The Los Angeles Lakers appear to have found themselves quite a player when they selected guard Lonzo Ball with the second overall pick in the NBA Draft. He struggled in his first appearance in the Las Vegas Summer League, but since then he has been incredible, averaging 16.3 points, 9.3 assists, and 7.7 rebounds while notching two triple-doubles.
Unfortunately, in the semi-final game of the Summer League tournament, Ball injured his calf and had to sit out the remainder of a difficult victory over the Dallas Mavericks. The injury caused the Lakers to bench Ball for the championship game, though word was that if it were a regular season game he likely would have played. Lakers fans breathed a sigh of relief, but then Magic Johnson mentioned during an interview on ESPN that they aren’t sure exactly how severe the injury is and that Ball will have an MRI on Tuesday:
“(Lonzo) got the groin, got the calf now, don’t know if it’s a tear or not so we gotta go back and get an MRI in Los Angeles tomorrow.”
Obviously, the Lakers will anxiously await the results of the MRI and will have to hope that there isn’t anything torn in Ball’s calf. Johnson didn’t seem overly concerned and based on reports that Ball could have played it would appear doubtful that the injury is very serious, but it’s still enough of an issue to have it checked out.
Ball, alongside 27th overall pick Kyle Kuzma, has been a bright spot for the Lakers in Summer League and given fans a lot of hope for the future. While Summer League success doesn’t necessarily translate into the NBA regular season, Ball does appear to have something special to his game.
