Los Angeles Lakers rookie guard Lonzo Ball is having a hard time with this whole NBA thing. The No. 2 pick in June’s draft entered Wednesday’s action against the Boston Celtics shooting at just a 30 percent clip from the field.
Plays like the one we saw from Celtics guard Marcus Smart likely won’t help increase Ball’s shooting percentage. Here, you will see Smart sending Ball away with an emphatic block — likely causing LaVar to scream at a television demanding a foul call.
That’s just simply brilliant. And it was as clean as all get out.
To be fair, Ball is used to playing college-level competition. Like most rookies, there’s a learning curve when going up against NBA-caliber players. Smart taught him this in a big way on Wednesday. Don’t go to the rim soft, dude.
Ball tallied five points on 2-of-7 shooting in the first half against the Celtics in Boston. He’s simply being outplayed by Celtics star guard Kyrie Irving, which isn’t necessarily that big of a surprise.