Lonzo Ball has been sidelined since Jan. 19 when he suffered a sprained left ankle and his absence may be extended due to a bone bruise in the same ankle, Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times reports.
While Ball’s initial rehab progressed swiftly, the setback of the bone bruise has limited the Lakers‘ point guard. As Ganguli notes, Ball’s absence through 11 games has been noticeable, especially on defense. Los Angeles has permitted an average of 123 PPG to teams during Ball’s injury.
In 47 games, Ball averaged 9.9 PPG, 5.4 APG and 5.3 RPG — all of which were down from his rookie season. However, the UCLA product showed improved shooting, evidenced by his 40.6% from the field and 32.9% from beyond the arc.
The Lakers began the second half with a come-from-behind win over the Rockets Thursday. If Ball’s absence stretches beyond the four-to-six week initial estimate, the Lakers will need to rely heavily on veteran Rajon Rondo. The Lakers (29-29) are currently three games back of the Clippers (33-27) for the eight seed in the Western Conference.
Not only does he have Lavarr driving his value down but now he’s starting to look fragile.
The media makes Zo-pa seem more important than he is.
The haters can run their mouth all they want. Anyone who actually watches the Lakers can see they are a much better team with Lonzo healthy
I’ve watched them with Alonzo and they’re under .500 with him in the lineup.
Maybe that has something to do with Lebron missing 19 games.
Obviously haven’t watched them enough then
Even tho they were .500 with Zo, he really started to take charge with LeBron out , before unfortunately suffering his own injury.
Even if that is true….that just makes the lakers a bad team
Zo is the 2nd best player on the roster by a landslide.
Brings huge impact in creative playmaking , but especially on defense in both point coverage and his size when switching to cover big.
He’s only 21 his shot/FT will come in time.
I think he has the best defensive rating for guards or point guards that have averaged more than 30 min/game.
The most important ability is availability.
is this kid milking this injury? man up and get back on the court dude!!!!