Lonzo Ball Is Better Than You Think

Being successful in the NBA also brings a lot of pressure along with it. The more successful a player is, the more pressure that is put on him to perform at a high level on a daily basis. Through the years, there have been many young players in the league who just were not able to live up to the expectations of the league, fans and media, who all then labeled them as a "bust".

Right now, the Los Angeles Lakers rookie, Lonzo Ball, is being called a bust by many fans and analysts. When Lonzo was drafted by the Lakers, he was being compared to some of the greatest point guards of all time in Magic Johnson and Jason Kidd. He is a tall, athletic, play-making point guard who likes to push the pace of the basketball and attack the defense before it is set. He was extremely successful with the UCLA Bruins and everyone expected that type of play to continue and improve as he made the transition to the NBA.

Now that Lonzo is in the league, everyone wants to criticize his failures and not acknowledge his successes. I'll admit, Lonzo is struggling to score the basketball. Through 27 games he is averaging 33.2% from the field and only 26.5% when shooting from the three. But, as I mentioned before, Lonzo is a tall, athletic, PLAY-MAKING point guard.

With the Lakers, he is averaging 7.2 assists and 6.9 rebounds. The only rookie who is averaging more assists than Ball is Ben Simmons and as a point guard, Ball is ranked fourth in rebounding among rookies. In addition to this, he is second in steals and fourth in blocks among rookies.

While scoring is the most glamorous stat in basketball, a player's assists, rebounds, steals, and blocks all contribute towards a teams success as well and Lonzo Ball has shown that he can do all of these things. Ball is also able to consistently put the Lakers in a position to win ball games, with ten of their losses being at a deficit of ten points or less. As a young team, it will take a little while for the Lakers to learn how to win and close out games, but Lonzo has shown that he has the maturity both on and off the court to make this happen. This was on full display on December 7th when Lonzo passed to ball to Ingram, who made the game-winning three-pointer to defeat the Sixers.

Now, this is the NBA, and in the NBA, everyone likes to make comparisons. So far in the season, Lonzo is averaging 9.1 points, 7.2 assists, 6.9 rebounds, 0.9 blocks and 1.4 steals per game. In LeBron's rookie season, he averaged 20.9 points, 5.9 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 0.7 blocks and 1.6 steals. Other than scoring and steals, Lonzo is currently averaging more assists, rebounds and blocks that LeBron James did in his rookie season. Again, this is because he is a play-maker and not a scorer. As Lonzo gets better, these numbers are sure to improve, just as LeBron's did.

Los Angeles Lakers v Cleveland Cavaliers — First meeting between Lebron and Lonzo in Cleveland

With the current Lakers team, Ball is surrounded by a supporting cast of scorers in Brandon Ingram, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Clarkson and Brook Lopez. The Lakers drafted Lonzo because of his ability to pass, his unselfishness and his maturity which all fit in with the young core that they currently have. Though he himself is struggling with his shooting, Lonzo has all the tools to improve his shot and there is no doubt that he is making use of them. As he continues to get better, in time, Lonzo Ball will prove to everyone that he is not a bust and is meant to be a star in the NBA.