The Los Angeles Lakers have been dealing with a few minor injuries throughout training camp, but the most concerning has been the sprained ankle suffered by rookie point guard Lonzo Ball.
Ball suffered the injury in the team’s second preseason game against the Denver Nuggets and hasn’t played since. With the regular season just one week away, there has been some concern about whether Ball would be ready. At the very least it hurt his ability to develop chemistry with his teammates.
It looks like things are finally turning around for Ball as he participated in most of practice on Thursday and is officially questionable for tomorrow’s preseason finale via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Lonzo participated in everything at practice, except scrimmaging. Lakers say he is still questionable for tomorrow.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 12, 2017
Lonzo himself spoke about practicing, saying he still feels a little discomfort in his ankle according to Lakers reporter Mike Trudell:
Lonzo Ball: “I felt good. Still a little bit of discomfort. Just trying to progress every day.” Says he’s not sure about playing tomorrow.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) October 12, 2017
It is definitely a good sign that Ball is back to practicing. Even if he doesn’t play in Friday’s final preseason game, it looks pretty safe to assume that he should be fine for next week’s season opener.
The injury definitely came at a bad time as Ball missed out on plenty of reps against NBA competition and to develop more chemistry with his teammates such as Brandon Ingram and Brook Lopez. It is unfortunate, but the Lakers will be happy to have him back once the season starts assuming he’s ready.
Expectations are high for the second overall pick and missing out on most of preseason could lead to a slow start for him. Once he gets acclimated, Lonzo will hopefully be just fine to help lead this young Lakers team.