How to Destroy an NBA Career: The Tragic Lonzo Ball Story

I'm very impressed with Alonzo ball I think he could be a potential superstar in the making ball steps back exciting player the Los Angeles Lakers select Lonzo ball Lonzo Ball's official shoe released 495 shoes olivar have you been surprised by all the reactions to your shoes oh not really no one knows a real story about them shoes them zo2s I was playing in they was not ready but now after they put surgery on this game I'm looking and I'm like yo they got him running and stuff too fast when looking back the 2017 NBA draft was one of the more fascinating classes in recent memory the number one pick Markel fultz had a miserable career with the Sixers failing to become the sharp shooting guard Philly had hoped for three spots later at number four stood Josh Jackson who was unable to evolve into the two-way assassin Phoenix desired the top players from this class are Jason Tatum bam out of Bio Donovan Mitchell and dear and fox all four players are All-Star level talents and lives up to the expectations that were put on them then there's the big question mark the one player that had more hype than everyone aforementioned in the 12 months leading up to the 2017 draft the sports media was centered on one polarizing UCLA guard Lonzo ball and his dad [Music] I think he's Jason Kidd who can score the basketball he's obviously the best pastor in college basketball and he has absurd range on his jump shot somebody got to be better than Jordan why not you Lonzo ball was a prodigy touching a basketball for the first time at two years old from that very moment his goal and his family's goal was simple make it to the NBA in 2016 Lonzo was a senior at Chino Hills High School and he quickly became the most exciting point guard in the nation whether it was his effortless passing Vision his Curry asked long-range shooting or his unparalleled Swagger Zoe LED his senior year team to a 35-0 record earning the State title on top of it the reason ball caught so many eyes was because he had two things sweet highlights and his brothers on the court with him the three ball Brothers took America by storm each one of them having their own unique skills Lonzo was the passer Jello was the shooter and Mello was a scorer Lonzo was the oldest of the three and this fascinating Trio captivated basketball fans of all ages in 2016 the expectations for Lonzo ball were only growing higher and higher she had already committed to UCLA at the age of 16 and was touted by many as a Surefire top 3 Prospect if you asked any spectator during this time they would agree that Lonzo was on the right path and had a successful basketball career ahead of him while that second statement was an accurate assessment one thing was already put elonzo's career in Jeopardy that being the mileage on his legs when looking at present-day Lonzo ball the headlines surrounding him are depressing his play on the court is above average he's a quality point guard that would add valued playmaking and shooting to any team but the problem is in his play it's his health [Music] through lonzo's five-year MBA career thus far he has missed 37 percent of the games he's eligible to play it's been a variety of lower body injuries varying from knee issues to ankle injuries to most recently the horribly unfortunate bone Brews and meniscus injury Lonzo ball has been plagued by poor health and it's robbed him of showcasing his abilities on the floor yet why does he experience these injury issues sure some players might be more unlucky than others but chalking sews Health to just bad luck isn't doing this situation the Justice it deserves there's a major problem here throughout lonzo's rise as a player around high school and into college there were multiple events he experienced that explain why he's so injury prone today starting from the very beginning Lonzo is nothing short of a basketball fanatic his father Lavar ball new zo would be drafted by the Lakers since he was a baby you've been talking about it for nine months nine months until about 19 20 years all right 19 20 years microphone on me when I was talking about it Lonzo was being trained to become an NBA player from an incredibly young age as mentioned before Zoe first started playing basketball at the age of two years old Lonzo says his first memories of playing came at age six in different YMCA agents he often played against the older kids and held his own signifying to Levar that he had the skills needed to succeed in the sport Lavar ball wanted to ensure that his son had the best possible advantage over his opponents so from the age of just four they began training Levar is quoted as saying I started introducing my boys to working out when they were just four or five years old doing pull-ups and dips and hanging on the bars for fun at the age of 12 Lonzo started using free weights he did military presses and bench presses Zoe also sprinted up one mile long Hills and this was all done by five days a week once you turn 12. I started when I was 12 so now I'm 19 7 years that's Monday through Friday every day always routine stays the same Lonzo was outworked by a few and this strict training regimen combined with his Elite two-way skills turned him into a young star but knowing what we know now is it not fair to wonder if these workouts at all affected lonzo's future health ball played Hoops a ton throughout his childhood and trained five days a week consistently putting long lasting mileage on his legs that cannot be understated NBA players who played an abundance of Youth Basketball are starting to see a pattern more wear and tear on their legs why because the countless hours of basketball they played as teenagers is starting to weigh on them this point was echoed by Orthopedics and the commissioner of the NBA Adam Silver silver was quoted as saying that Orthopedics are seen wear and tear issues in young players that they didn't used to see until players were much older in a well-researched ESPN article by Baxter Holmes she details a three year long experiment that was conducted among Chicago youth athletes the average age of the athlete involved was 13 and a half kids who were specialized in one sport versus kids who were not specialized in one sport were compared what was found was that those who were specialized rather significantly higher risk for injuries such as bone issues cartilage injuries and ligament injuries how much higher of a risk about 125 percent that's right teenagers who specialize in one sport year round were at a 125 percent higher risk of injury than those who weren't specialized now tell me which player started working out at four years old who is playing basketball at the YMCA regularly at six and trained five days a week since they were 12. who sprinted up one mile long Hills consistently and who was constantly specializing in playing basketball who infamously worked out on Christmas Day the answer is Lonzo ball Which injuries are Lonzo unfortunately facing today well his most recent surgery is to remove broken cartilage and tissues to add on Lonzo has received criticism in the past for his questionable workout routines in May of 2020 a video of him awkwardly lifting weights went viral on the internet with many criticizing his form claiming it was dangerous if Zoe was lifting weights with this poor form and not seen anything wrong with it who's to say that he wouldn't continue this bad pattern into his other workout routines regardless this is only the tip of the iceberg there are many other factors to blame for why Lonzo is so injury prone [Music] it's the spring of 2017 and Lonzo ball is the king of college basketball no other NCAA player was receiving as much attention he was compared to the Hall of Fame point guard Jason Kidd hype was growing not only from his play but also from his father Lavar ball needs no further introduction every week a new quote would emerge from LeVar on how Lonzo was the soon-to-be Legend Levar said Lonzo was better than Steph Curry any said that he could beat Michael Jordan in a one-on-one yet all of those statements paled in comparison to his clothing company big baller brand BBB for short [Music] Lavar ball and his team expertly advertised and marketed BBB for months you weren't a real Hooper if you didn't wear a BBB Levar and his wild quotes Drew attention to the company while lamelo liangelo and Lonzo all for its merch regularly the most infamous product ever released by BBB were the zo2 prime sneakers a signature shoe of the college point guard Lonzo that were priced at 495 dollars everywhere across the Sports World people crack jokes about this 500 shoes for a college kid who hadn't even proved himself to be a good NBA player yet but what little seemed to question is how these sneakers would affect his health the BBB sneakers that Lonzo ball wore are perhaps one of the biggest reasons for why he is such an injury-filled mess today he didn't wear them every game but when he did his lower body suffered in September of 2019 Lonzo revealed that his 495 dollar shoes needed to be changed every single quarter because they kept ripping no one knows the real story about those shoes said Lonzo in a podcast interview they were not ready it got to the point where told his manager that he could not play in those shoes they were unwearable after one quarter of play what many forget is that lonzo's original z02 Prime shoes were actually redesigned before they were released why were they redesigned lonzo's two were Summer League games came when he was wearing his own 500 sneakers ball played best when he was wearing other sneakers like Nikes but once he put on his own his play took a nosedive the zo2 prime redesign was created to be a bit more wearable in game but even then the results were catastrophic it got so bad that Lonzo was confronted by the Lakers organization about the BBB sneakers in early March of 2019. the Lakers were wondering if the shoes had all contributed to lonzo's slew of ankle injuries he was suffering ball told them he was comfortable and if he wasn't comfortable he'd be playing in Kobe's he was not telling the truth why Lonzo insist don't worry them why uh why did you why'd you wear them just because you guys had like they're my shoes we went so far with it can't stop now I'm like cool I can I can get a quarter in but that's it we gotta switch them every quarter Lonzo consistently wore bbbs for the first two seasons of his career in mid to late 2019 Zoe publicly ditched big baller brand bbb's co-founder Alan Foster allegedly used 1.5 million dollars of lonzo's money for himself Foster was the man who convinced Lonzo to sign with BBB instead of Nike and Adidas during the 2017 draft as we will soon discover lonzo's decision to wear bbbs ended up being a horrible one now let's rewind back to the summer of 2017. Lonzo ball had just been drafted to Los Angeles fulfilling his lifetime goal of becoming a Laker cameras were on this 19 year old every day he had the most hype out of any player in his draft class summer league ended up being a success La won the championship with Lonzo being the MVP Zoe performed well outside of the few poor games he had when he wore his signature shoes lonzo's rookie season saw him Miss 30 out of the 82 games with various knee and Ankle issues on June 29 2018 two months after his rookie season had concluded he was diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his left knee that forced him into surgery the injuries were in all the fault of the BBB sneakers Zoe heard his lower body where in regular Nikes as well what is worth noting is that Lavar ball called the Lakers trainers and their workout methods BS if you're going to be doing those workouts with rubber bands like that Jude Gunner has him doing that is BS training that's what I called it he wasn't like that when I brought him over there when he first came to the Lakers he never got hurt he was never hurt Lavar is referring to Gunner Peterson a Lakers trainer who worked with Zoe primarily utilizing rubber bands workouts at this point in the summer of 2018 though there was little to no fear regarding Lonzo Ball's Health his law long history of specializing in basketball his BBB shoes his questionable training methods none of that raised any red flags yet when LeBron James signed with LA in July of 2018 expectations of a championship were abound in Los Angeles but that didn't happen not with Lonzo on the team at least what would follow for Zoe was a roller coaster sophomore season that ended with more question marks than answers Lonzo Ball's 2018-19 season was one that saw him show flashes of his number two pick ability he quickly gained a reputation of being one of the most elite perimeter defending guards in the game she and LeBron had their exciting moments too they became the eighth duo in NBA history to both record a triple double in the same game come New Year 2019 everything was looking up for Lonzo the Lakers were a few games over 500 and were looking to make a playoff push Zoe was finally getting into a good Rhythm he had played every game of the season thus far she was shooting above average from downtown and his defense was becoming lethal the starting point guard position was his to lose he LeBron and Brandon Ingram were the big three that was expected to give Los Angeles their first playoff appearance in half a decade but that all changed on January 19 2019 in a game against the Houston Rockets where Alonzo suffered an injury that changed the direction of his career forever in the second half against the Rockets Lonzo hurt his ankle in a collision it was a left ankle sprain this injury not only ended lonzo's season but it took his momentum and his team's momentum and crushed it the Lakers who were 25 and 21 at the time of this injury plummeted going 12 and 23 in the final 35 games and missing the Playoffs Lonzo was coming off a stretch where he was averaging 15 9-6 and an all-defensive team appearance seem more than possible yet there were no accolades for Lonzo and no playoff appearances for the Lakers instead the final image of Lonzo Ball's career with Los Angeles is this the 21 year old lying on the ground injured again with his big baller brand shoes on a tenure where Alonso was hyped up to be the next Magic Johnson is remembered for nothing more than back-breaking injuries and losing he was traded six months later every story doesn't have a good ending Lonzo was expected to miss four to six weeks with this injury but ended up being shut down in late March of 2019. this ankle injury he suffered was when he was wearing BBB sneakers on the night of November 27 2018 Lonzo wore bbbs against Denver and suffered a left ankle sprain one month later against Sacramento on December 28 2018 Zoe aggravated his ankle again which shoe was he wearing you guessed it as mentioned earlier the Lakers spoke to Zoe when he was rehabbing in March of 2019 two months after his Rocket's injury Lonzo said wearing BBB sneakers didn't bother him he was lying six months later in September of 2019 Lonzo was quoted as saying the brand is demolished right now this quote was after his falling out with Alan Foster Zoe was referring to big baller brand and he was talking to his father while saying he never wore the shoes in game again a little-known fact from this time is that in April of 2019 Lonzo ball almost had an unauthorized surgery Lonzo and his team had planned to get surgery on his ankle from a doctor they were familiar with and it would have been without the Lakers permission once LA's general manager Rob Palanka called Lonzo and threatened to void his contract Zoe agreed to cancel the surgery a near disaster was avoided and this can once again be chalked up as another questionable move by Zoe his odd workout routines his disastrous decisions but big baller brand over his health and his choice of almost going through with a surgery that his team had no idea about all of them were iffy choices the first two seasons of lonzo's career had a detrimental impact on his long-term Health unfortunately for him the worst was yet to come lonzo's two seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans were forgettable the one bright spot was Zoe's Health in the 2019-20 season as well as his Improvement shooting the three ball Lonzo went from a liability from outside at 32 percent in 2018-19 to 37 in 2019-20 fun fact this year Remains the one with the most games ever played by Zoe in one season 63 games played out of 72. this was a high point in lonzo's career he was finally getting healthy she had a sweet new jump shot and the duo of he and Zion Williamson were expected to dominate for the next decade the 2020-21 season was conflicting for so he was an up and down inconsistent player one game he hit a multitude of threes and looked like a two-way Beast another game he'd be passive with the ball passing up open shots and looking like just another forgettable face on the court this was understandable though oh fans of Lonzo believed his talents would be better utilized on a different team Lonzo wanted to be the primary playmaker and desire to be paid a pretty penny that New Orleans didn't want to give him like Los Angeles the expectations for Zoe were high once he arrived in New Orleans but by the end of it fans were left just shrugging their shoulders Lonzo dealt with hip strains minor knee injuries and thumb sprains in his final season with New Orleans which made the Pelicans hesitant to offer him a big deal this combined with Zoe's preference for playing in the windy city made the free agency process smooth the Chicago Bulls quickly emerged as a team that was willing to pay Lonzo as much as he wanted balls playmaking alongside Zach Levine scoring and DeMar DeRozan slashing were a match made in heaven finally in what would be year 5 of his career Zoe was in the position he'd always dreamed of he could be the captain of a playoff team he'd never been in the postseason before and now is his best chance through the first few months of the 2021-22 Season that dream was realized Lonzo evolved into the best version of himself having a career year he averaged 13 a game with five times shooting a scorching hot 42 percent from downtown this was a player who just a few years prior was known as an offensive liability for his lack of a jump shot Zoe tuned out the noise and put the work in and was reaping the benefits she and the Chicago Bulls Rose to the number one seed in the East appearing to be formidable contenders ball had arrived gaining more and more momentum each game he was a two-way monster his last game of the 2021-22 season came against the Golden State Warriors on January 14th nobody knew it at the time but Zoe was about to go through one of the most grueling and painful injury recoveries in NBA history on January 15 2022 Zoe was ruled out against the Celtics with the knee soreness nothing was thought of it at the time but once four days passed and it was announced that his knee was not responding to the treatment Panic Rose in Chicago he was diagnosed with a bone bruise and a small meniscus tear the next day he underwent surgery eight days later and this is where many problems arise in mid-march of 2022 video surfaced of Lonzo running and lifting weights looking better health-wise the only problem is that nine days later he reportedly faced more discomfort accusations from many NBA fans including Lavar ball a q Chicago of Russian Lonzo pack following the surgery Levar is quoted as saying this after they do the surgery on this game I'm looking and I'm like yo they got him running and stuff too fast it was too early for him to do that you know I'm looking like doing some Booth therapy instead of the treadmill or a little running he was doing I was like that's wrong lonzo's apparent discomfort after this surgery came when he began sprinting and cutting implying that the Bulls were progressing much faster than he was comfortable with he was officially ruled out for the season in early April on April 28th follow me in Chicago's lost to the Bucks in rounds one of the playoffs Zoe said his recovery was at a standstill for months through the summer of 2022 it was radio silence regarding Lonzo then heartbreak was announced on September 29th 2022 he could not run he could not jump and he could not play he was undergoing yet another knee surgery depressing news and underneath that misery is one haunting question that must be answered will he ever be the same all of these injuries leave Lonzo in a terribly difficult position to be in assuming he returns will the lower body issues keep piling on will he ever be able to grow into the All-Star point guard that many believed he could be will his life ever be the same the severity of such injuries cannot be understated there comes a point where Zoe may have to make a difficult decision between playing basketball or putting his health first his personal day-to-day life could be affected by this injury and possible future ones and that's what makes the tragedy of Lonzo so frustrating she had the potential to be one of the most electric point guards in the game in college he was regularly called the most exciting player in the NCAA she had millions of fans tons of Fame on social media and was willing to put in the work to improve at his faults he had the Charisma talent and personality of a superstar every team would benefit fit from having a healthy Lonzo on their squad but here's the problem he's never healthy just when it seemed like he was putting it together in Los Angeles in 2019 he was hit with an ankle sprain that ended his season in New Orleans he and Zion could have been one of the most thrilling parians in the league but the Pelicans let him go because they didn't want to pay him why because he was too injury prone in Chicago the Bulls were the number one seed in the Eastern Conference with so healthy ball was the glue that held the team together once he got hurt the Bulls lost all their momentum and crashed leaving Lonzo to go yet another year without a playoff appearance if you told any college basketball fan back in 2017 that this is how Zoe's career would go they'd laugh at you and call you crazy the idea of such a Flawless Prospect facing such an unlucky fate is agonizing Lonzo ball will go down as a what if and nobody wants another what if story there's no one solo thing to blame for his downfall but there are multiple factors him playing Hoops since Age 2 and starting to work out at age four played a part in this running up one mile long Hills five days a week and lifting consistently from age 12 onwards helped him gain an edge over his opponents but it also put tons of miles on his legs his questionable workout routines that he does by himself or with teams have to be taken into account as well the big baller brand nightmare may be the most crucial element to all of this a great majority of the injuries Lonzo suffered as a Laker or with bbbs on Lonzo said that the shoes were ripping and exploding at the end of every quarter so much so that he had to change them each time very few players go through such a process with their sneakers and no player would continue wearing the sneakers once they just cover how poor quality they are but Zoe kept wearing them through year one and two the Chicago Bulls decision to rush Lonzo pack after his meniscus surgery may have caused him the future of his career ball has only played over 60 games one time in his first six seasons his future is now covered in fog the once most polarizing college player in the country is now the most forgotten get well soon monzo foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: dylandoesbasketball

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Length: 27min 12sec (1632 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 16 2022