Lakers Training Camp Video: Lonzo Ball, Svi Mykhailiuk Compete Against Brian Shaw, Miles Simon In Around The World

Matthew Moreno
2 Min Read


A regular occurrence after practices last season had Los Angeles Lakers assistant coaches Miles Simon and Brian Shaw competing against rookies Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma in a game of around the world.

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The entertaining shootouts serve as another example of the competitive spirit head coach Luke Walton has cultivated, and the competitions often include friendly banter and trash-talking.

After one memorable matchup in which Shaw and Walton (filling in for Simon) erased a 2-0 deficit to defeat Ball and Kuzma, the young forward admitted, “B Shaw got in my head. He’s a king trash-talker. He kept calling me ‘short dog,’ because I kept missing short.”

Following Saturday’s practice, the last before the Lakers begin their six-game preseason schedule, Miles and Simon went shot-for-shot against Ball and rookie Svi Mykhailiuk, who has been a standout in training camp.

Ball and Mykhailiuk have regularly shot together on the same basket at the conclusion of practices. And though Mykhailiuk is regarded as the better shooter of the two, Ball has flashed a much smoother release and improved results thus far.

While there was plenty of buzz over a refined jump shot, Ball maintains there was little change. He instead believes added strength is more of a factor as he no longer needs to “fling” the ball toward the rim.

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Matthew Moreno is a journalist from Whittier, Calif., who is a credentialed reporter and is currently the Managing Editor of DodgerBlue.com and LakersNation.com. In addition to covering Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angels Lakers games, Matthew has a strong passion for keeping up to date with the sneakerhead culture. It began with Michael Jordan and Air Jordan shoes, and has carried over to Kobe Bryant's signature line with Nike. Matthew previously was the lead editor and digital strategist at Dodgers Nation, and the co-editor and lead writer at Reign of Troy, where he covered USC Trojans Football. Matthew graduated from California State Long Beach University with a major in journalism and minor in communications. Contact: matt@mediumlargela.com