Right from the jump of the first game of the year, Patrick Beverley made it clear how opponents would be treating Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball throughout his rookie season.
The veteran defensive specialist was physical with Ball all over the court while trash talking with him and his father throughout the game. That kind of treatment probably won’t be uncommon for Ball during his rookie campaign.
If the way Beverley behaved also sounds like how Ball would’ve been treated by veterans in the yesteryears of the game, it sounds like that’s not an accident. While speaking with TMZ Sports, Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley made it clear he would have done similar:
“I would’ve been goin’ at his head, no question. Would’ve been talkin’ to him the whole time about his daddy,” Barkley told TMZ Sports.
Chuck actually REALLY likes Lonzo … but 100% agrees with Kenny Smith, who told us LaVar Ball has put a target on his son’s back.
“His dad has put so much pressure on him, he makes people not like him. Now he’s got everybody not liking his son and he’s gonna have to deal with that.”
Barkley isn’t wrong that a lot of people don’t like Lonzo because of the way LaVar brags about him. It’s probably the type of thing that gets players like Beverley so mad.
That being said, it is somewhat ironic that a man who was basically the LaVar Ball of players (and now commentators) thinks LaVar is unlikable and takes exception to all his bragging and trash talk.
The good news for the Lakers is that Lonzo seemed relatively unphased by the whole display from Beverley, a mindset he’ll have to maintain throughout his rookie year. Players like Beverley and Barkley are probably jealous of all the attention Lonzo gets simply because his father is a loudmouth.
