WS Chronicle

We are less than two weeks into the new NBA season and one would expect the lead headlines to be that Golden State has lost two games already, or the injury to Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul, or the emergence of Giannis Antetokounmpo.  Instead, the main conversation piece of the NBA this early on in the season has been the continued antics of LaVar Ball and the unwanted attention he is bringing to his son.

All of this talking the elder Ball is doing is not helping his son out one iota. Coming into the season, Lonzo already had a target on his back because of all the hype that preceded him prior to the draft.  Since his son was in high school, LaVar has been raving about his son’s ability to play the game of basketball.

All throughout his one year at UCLA, Lonzo performed very well, which prompted his father to proclaim him over and over as one of the best players in the country and destined him to be drafted by the Lakers in the 2017 NBA Draft.

As luck would have it, Lonzo was drafted second overall by the Lakers in this year’s draft.   As soon as he was drafted, his father continued to make ludicrous claims about how his son will perform on the next level as well as who his son was better than.  Ever since then, I’m sure Ball has been on the radar of most NBA point guards.

After a rocky start to the summer league, Ball bounced back to eventually become the summer league MVP.  As we have seen thus far, it is fair to say that the kid can play and has tremendous upside.

What I don’t understand is why is his father making an already difficult task even more difficult.  Take for instance the first game of the year, when the Lakers played against the in-town rival Clippers.  Clipper guard Patrick Beverley was all over Ball from the tip.

Beverley is known as a hard-nosed guard that sometimes goes too far, but he said LaVar’s comments about Lonzo gave him extra motivation.  With the league so deep at the point guard position, this is not going to be an isolated incident.

Ball has only scored in double figures once through six games this regular season.  But he is averaging almost eight assists and eight rebounds to go along with 10 points per game.  Those are promising numbers for a rookie with a bullseye on his back.

I think LaVar is attempting to take some of the pressure off of his son by having the media focus on him.  What he fails to realize is that some players are looking at the things he says and then going to the calendar to circle games against the Lakers to prove a point, so to speak.

The Lakers are also only 2-4 on the year, but they were not expected to be a playoff team this year.  LaVar should be more focused on the development of his son and the Lakers as a whole because I know he wants to continue to build their Big Baller Brand, and the best way to do that is for his son to do well on the court.

Even with all of the negative press his father is bringing his way, I think Lonzo will be a successful player in the league. But players in the league have big egos, so I know Lonzo will have all the top point guards in the league licking their chops to get at him.