Schadenfreude, noun: pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune.
If you can’t stand the traveling circus that is Big Baller Brand, aka the Ball family, you’re probably already familiar with the feeling of schadenfreude through the first month of Lonzo Ball’s career.
While he’s mixed in a few impressive stat lines, it’s been an otherwise disastrous start for the Los Angeles Lakers rookie. Ball made just one of nine shots Wednesday in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, and as SB Nation points out, Ball is off to the least efficient 15-game start to a season since 1963.
Ball’s shooting remains horrendous. He’s shooting just 30 percent from the floor and has been even worse from behind the arc, shooting 22.9 percent from 3-point land. The bricklayer was open for business again Wednesday night.
The steal was neat, though. That play also probably was Ball’s lone defensive highlight, as he struggled at the defensive end in a big way against the Sixers.
It’s admittedly a little unfair to celebrate Ball’s shortcomings. Almost all of us would trade places with him in a heartbeat for that paycheck, and those who root against the 20-year-old primarily do so for two reasons: disdain for his father, LaVar, and the fact he plays for the Los Angeles Lakers.
And if you’re a Ball hater, you better enjoy it while you can. There’s a reason the Lakers took him second overall in the draft. The shots should start falling, and Lonzo should become the player everyone expects him to be before long.
