At the time still without LeBron James and Rajon Rondo, the Los Angeles Lakers witnessed Lonzo Ball get carried off the court in the third quarter of what finished a heartbreaking loss to the Houston Rockets in overtime.
Ball was taken for X-rays, which came back negative, and given a preliminary diagnosis of a sprained left ankle. An MRI the following day confirmed a Grade 3 sprain, and he was projected to miss four to six weeks while recovering.
Although another crushing blow to the injury-ravaged Lakers, Kyle Kuzma explained that Ball was relieved to learn of his diagnosis. “I never broke a bone, but I thought that might’ve been it,” Ball explained in his first time speaking since the injury.
“Hearing four to six weeks is not that bad. That’s never happened to me before. Kind of like a freaky play. I don’t know really what happened. It happened kind of fast.”
Ball said his treatment includes plenty of icing and elevating his left ankle. He was in a walking boot at the Lakers practice facility but as of Friday no longer needed crutches to move along.
“Just rehabbing as much as I can,” he said. “Just trying to get back as fast as possible.”
On top of Ball’s injury coming when the Lakers were missing their two other primary ballhandlers, it also halted the momentum the young point guard had generated. “It’s just bad timing,” Ball said.
“I thought I was playing pretty good basketball, finding my rhythm. It happens. Fortunately, I won’t have to miss the whole year or anything like that.”
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