Unexpected news came out yesterday when it was announced that UCLA freshman forward LiAngelo Ball, brother of Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball, as well as two teammates were arrested for shoplifting in China. UCLA is in China for their season opener against Georgia Tech.
Ball, along with teammates Cody Riley and Jalen Hill, have since been released after being questioned by local police for allegedly stealing sunglasses from a nearby Louis Vuitton store.
Lonzo meanwhile, is in Boston preparing for arguably his toughest test of the early season against Kyrie Irving and the Celtics. Before the game, Ball said he has yet to talk to his family about the situation via Tania Ganguli of the L.A. Times:
Lonzo said he hasn't talked to his dad or his brother. Will catch up with them when they're here. "I'm just trying to focus on the game."
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) November 8, 2017
Lakers head coach Luke Walton also added that he plans on talking with Lonzo about it, but doesn’t think it will affect him too much via Bill Oram of the OC Register:
Luke Walton said he does not think LiAngelo Ball’s arrest in China will affect Lonzo too much, but it could. He plans to discuss it with Lonzo later today.
— Bill Oram (@billoram) November 8, 2017
Overall this is an unfortunate situation, but all of the details of exactly what happened are still unknown. Hopefully things will become more clear soon and everyone will be able to move past it.
As for Lonzo, he has no choice but to focus on the task in front of him which is the Boston Celtics. There has never been a time where he has seemed to be fazed by any outside noise and this looks to be no different. Nonetheless, Walton is smart to talk to him about it to ensure everything is good with his rookie point guard.
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