The Lonzo Ball Situation Just Got WORSE…

Lonzo Ball might have just shot himself in the foot, or the knee in this case. You cannot say all of that and not expect headlines like these to emerge the next morning. So what does he do? Denies the rumors with a tweet that he still waits for a call from an NBA team. But does he honestly think someone will pick up the phone after hearing that? To me, his glory days are definitely over, but that doesn't mean we cannot reminisce about them in this video. Lonzo started off as a bricklayer in Los Angeles shooting a horrible 31% from downtown with that broken looking shot in his first couple of seasons. But after coming to New Orleans, he worked really hard to change his form, which really improved his percentages. Against the Rockets early in the season, Lonzo messed around and got a triple-double of 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists while shooting a scorching hot 7 of 12 from downtown in the comfortable win at the end. Next came the Kings in Sacramento, where Ball looked fresher than ever. Zo got hot at the right time, racking up 15 of his 24 points in the final period. The Pells got up by 9 points entering the 2-minute mark, but the Kings came all the way back to tie the game with insane shots like this one. Still, they had 4 seconds on the clock to try and make something happen. Lonzo finds the curling JJ who lays in the game winner to shock the Kings fans. Ball led his team with an all-around performance of 24 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 steals just like he did all year long. He finished his first season with the Pelicans averaging 12 points, 6 boards, 7 dimes and 1.5 steals per game on a rock-solid 37.5% shooting from long range. The young trio of him, Zion and Ingram looked really promising at times, but just at times. The electric trio was able to play together in a total of 66 games out of the 135 possible during that 2-year span while Lonzo was in New Orleans. Regardless, that didn't affect his individual growth, both as a shooter and as a playmaker. He dished out a career-high 17 assists against the Blazers. Two weeks later, he decided not to be so generous and took out the big guns himself. In a close win over the Rockets, Lonzo exploded for 27 points, 9 assists and 3 steals on 8 of 15 shooting from deep. He was playing the best basketball of his career. The overtime thriller against the Timberwolves just confirmed this. Zo was doing it all for his team, playing lockdown defense, orchestrating the offense and then started knocking down some long range bombs himself. Lonzo balled out, putting up a monster statline of 33 points, 11 boards, 8 assists and 3 steals in the overtime win at the end. For a pass-first point guard, that was his career high in points by the way. And just 3 days later against the Warriors, he matched his performance again. Ball had him on a string, knocking down 7 of 13 from beyond the arc while saving the best for last. An absolute eruption by Zo in the final 3 minutes of the game, scoring 12 of his 33 points to guide the Pels over Steph Curry and the Dubs. In his second season as the floor general in New Orleans, he posted 14.5 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 1.5 steals on 37.8% shooting from downtown. This earned him a huge signed and trade deal to the Bulls worth $85 million the next season. And alongside him, DeRozan and Caruso came to Chicago to join Nikola Vucevic and Zach Levine. For the first time in his career, Lonzo was playing meaningful basketball. And for the first time in Chicago, the Pelicans were in town, so Lonzo decided to put on a show. Ball had no mercy for his old team at all, immediately posting a triple-double of 17, 10 and 11 in the comfortable win at the end. This was just the icing on the cake. About a month later, the Bulls were in LA to face another former team of Lonzo. These were the experimental Lakers with Westbrook, Melo and the other old heads, so Ball didn't have problems at all. Zo was feeling himself at home, punishing the Lakers time and time again for leaving him wide open. Unlike Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook who were taking turns at trying to break the backboard, Lonzo was in the zone. He was money from everywhere on the court. Ball was unconscious from distance, shooting a blistering 7 of 10 on his way to 27 points, 7 boards and 8 assists in the dominant win on the road. Amazing. He took the scalp of another star-studded team. It was a magical first half of the season for the Bulls as they were surprisingly holding the number 1 seed in the East with a 27-13 record. In 35 games for Chicago, Ball averaged 13 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5 assists and almost 2 steals per game on a career-best 42% shooting from 3-point range. But then, disaster struck for Lonzo. After years and years of chronic knee issues, he was shut down for the rest of the season. He underwent 3 big surgeries in a span of a year and a half which derailed his career in the worst way possible. In his absence, the Bulls quickly fell out of contention, finishing the season as the 6th seed, taking a first-round playoff exit to the Milwaukee Bucks. And although Zo worked his way back to return to action after a thousand-day halt from basketball, he was never the same. And back in 2018, Terry Rozier wasn't the same player as today either. Back then, he used to obliterate his opponents with his quickness in shooting and Eric Bledsoe seemingly got the worst of it. I broke down their beef from that first-round series in my latest video and you gotta check it out. Click right here and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.