Remember last season when LeBron James and Lonzo Ball had a brief conversation after the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Los Angels Lakers at Quicken Loans Arena?
At the time, many wondered if the two discussed James’ potential plan to join the Lakers in the offseason, which he eventually did, or if the conversation revolved around Ball’s father, LaVar Ball, and the things he has had to say about James.
The 33-year-old star finally divulged what he told the young point guard Monday, and it’s the kind of advice you’d expect from King James.
“The gist of it was at the end of the day, no one can define who you are but yourself,” James told ESPN LA’s “Mason & Ireland.” “When you’re young, you can get caught up and listening to what people say, what people think that you should be, what people saying what your game should be. But at the end of the day, no one can define who are you besides yourself. If you put in the work, you commit to the game, then the game will give back to you. And that’s all it’s about. Zo’s got a lot of talent. You can tell he loves the game. You can tell his teammates love playing with him. So, he’s going to be great for this franchise.”
James, Ball and the rest of the new-look Lakers will look to snap the franchise’s five-year playoff drought this season. While many expect the Lakers to be in the middle of the pack in a loaded Western Conference, it’s hard to count James out of the NBA Finals conversation until he’s officially been bounced from the playoffs.
That being said, LA appears to lack the firepower to take on the Golden State Warriors in a seven-game series, but if Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Ball can make large strides next to the best player on the planet, perhaps they can make the four-time defending conference champions sweat a little bit.
