Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball was sitting on the sidelines, getting treatment on his sprained ankle, while the rest of the squad was participating in 5-on-5 scrimmages this afternoon. Ball limped over to reporters after practice and said he is feeling better but is still day-to-day.
Head coach Luke Walton said he called a team meeting prior to practice, for two main reasons. One, to discuss their ‘unacceptable’ effort in Wednesday night’s preseason loss to the Denver Nuggets, and two, not to let one bad game allow doubt to creep in about their commitment and what they’ve been implementing in training camp.
Practice notes and videos below.
Quotes
Walton on his message to the players before practice: “I wanted them to understand that’s not acceptable, and that’s not who we are but at the same time don’t doubt yourselves, and don’t doubt the work you’ve been putting in, and training camp has been great besides that one day…Hopefully the message got across.”
Ball on Brook Lopez: “He’s one of the best big men in the league…I’m excited to see what he’s going to do out there…spacing, rebounding, rim protection, all of that.”
Lonzo on Tyler Ennis: “Tyler helps me a lot actually, he’s been in the league for a couple years, so every time he sees something in practice he lets me know…He’s one of the guys who tells me to take care of my body in the ice baths and stuff, he definitely helps me on and off the court…He’s tremendous for this team, doesn’t make too many mistakes, is very smart, can shoot so he always can space the floor, he just knows how to play.
Ingram on sitting on the bench with Ball: “We had a lot of dialogue between each other, just seeing the game, how we could be better on the defensive end, on the offensive end, trusting each other with the pass…how we played the game the other night was not how we’ve been practicing.” 
Walton on the proceeds going to charity: “I think it’s awesome, obviously the Vegas thing is terrible, tough to even think about sports or coming to cheer on a team when you have things like that happening and families ruined and the sadness all over this country from that, but since we are going out there to play I think its incredible of the Lakers and Jeanie and whoever else made the decision to donate to those families, cause obviously the whole country is in mourning but they’re a whole different level of it so obviously anything we can do to help out is pretty special and I hope it makes the game more of an escape for people. Three hours to just go in there and enjoy the purity of teams competing and knowing at the backend that all the money is going to support those people.”
Practice Notes
– Brandon Ingram practiced in full and is expected to play Sunday (he is officially listed as probable)
– Lonzo Ball was very limited at practice and mostly received treatment (did not partake in scrimmaging)
– Brook Lopez was practicing with the starting unit and is expected to play Sunday
– Andrew Bogut is listed as questionable (strained groin) for Sunday’s game
– Ingram ran some point guard at practice, and said he feels natural at the position
– Scrimmage teams when the media was let into practice (Team A: Vander Blue, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Larry Nance Jr. and Brook Lopez. Team B: Alex Caruso, Jordan Clarkson, Corey Brewer, Julius Randle and Ivica Zubac).
