The Los Angeles Lakers kicked off their first day of training camp at their UCLA Health Training Facility on Tuesday morning, and it was all about defense. Head coach Luke Walton said it started with individual defense, then team defense, and moved to transition defense and rebounding drills.
“Two hours of defense,” Lonzo Ball said. “Everybody was competing which was great, and everyone was in here on time and just getting after it.”
Ball said he’s focused on getting stronger, mostly to help with his defense, while Brandon Ingram is working on moving his feet to stay in front, rather than relying on his length. Head coach Luke Walton preaches patience and continuing to focus on growing the culture.
Walton also reveals Ivica Zubac’s new nickname after drastically cutting body fat and Ingram talks about why he’s pushing rookies Kyle Kuzma and Ball even harder. Plus, we’ve got a sneak peak into practice with some raw footage. It’s all in our videos below.
Other notes: Brook Lopez did not participate in contact drills (back spasms) and Andrew Bogut sat out (waiting on work visa).
Practice Footage
Lonzo Ball
Brandon Ingram
Luke Walton