Aside from the focus being on how LeBron James is fitting into the fold with the Los Angeles Lakers along his new teammates, there has been much scrutiny on the health of second-year point guard Lonzo Ball.
Ball had undergone offseason arthroscopic knee surgery that has raised plenty of questions concerning his availability. However, he has been able to ramp it up in practice going full tilt that has even caught James by surprise, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
“I didn’t know he was gonna be full go so fast,” James said after the Los Angeles Lakers’ practice Saturday. “He’s been going through live drills the last 2½ days. His bounce is there. His speed is there.”
“So I don’t even know if he even had surgery,” James added, jokingly.
This is quite encouraging for the Lakers as this erases any doubt that he has been made significant progress in his recovery from the injury. The fact that James noted that it looks like Ball is playing like he didn’t have surgery speaks highly of how well he has looked on the court.
This should lean the conversation over to when he will be able to play in a game as he has already been declared out for Sunday’s preseason opener against the Denver Nuggets. On top of that, head coach Luke Walton has already indicated on the team’s media day back on Monday that Rajon Rondo will be the starter to begin the season.
There is no pressure on Ball to come back sooner than he is ready to do so as the team has a stable option with Rondo leading the backcourt. That said, his ramped up activity in training camp could be a telling sign that he isn’t far off from being in the fold early in the 2018-19 campaign.
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