The Los Angeles Lakers and their 2017 No. 2 draft pick Lonzo Ball had quite the day at the practice facility on Friday afternoon, but the former UCLA point guard made some time with us here at Lakers Nation for our interview above.
President of basketball operations Magic Johnson set some lofty expectations for their new ‘face of the franchise,’ pointing to the retired jerseys on the wall and declaring Ball’s jersey to be hanging up there one day.
Ball tells LakersNation.com, that he welcomes the high expectations.
“My whole life I always set the bar, so I’m glad Magic came in here to do that for me, so now I’m just going to be in here chasing challenges.”
Head coach Luke Walton raved about Ball’s ability to make everyone on the floor better and how that will play directly into Ball’s ability to lead. The 19-year-old reacted to Walton’s comments and how he’s played with that ability his entire life.
Plus, Ball explains why he thinks forward Brandon Ingram can be a ‘superstar,’ and how he thinks he can help bring Ingram’s game to another level. And, since Ball took some of former UCLA teammate T.J. Leaf’s spotlight on draft night, we thought it was only fair to give him the stage to talk about his teammates.