Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball, front, passes the ball past Detroit Pistons forward Stanley Johnson defending during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017, in Los Angeles. The Lakers won, 113-93. AP/Kyusung Gong
The youthful Los Angeles Lakers currently hold a 5-5 record, thanks to their uptempo offense led in part by the team’s sensational facilitator, Lonzo Ball.
But as much as the former UCLA Bruin has dazzled distributing the rock, this year’s second overall pick has mightily struggled to make a basket—shooting a drastic 29.9 percent from the field in his first 10 games.
Speaking to reporters after the Lakers’ victory against the Brooklyn Nets over the weekend, Ball’s eccentric father, LaVar, urged his son to beat the funk by taking more shots.
“You’ve got to shoot the ball,” Lavar, who witnessed his son tally 6 points, 5 boards and 7 assists, told Bleacher Report. “You’re not going to make it if you don’t take it.”
The Ball patriarch also made it known that he wants more consistent minutes in the rotation for his eldest son.
“Let him play the whole fourth quarter and bet you’ll always win. He’ll get into a better flow,” he said. “The in and out, sitting out six to 10 minutes? He’s not going to take no shots because he’s not in the flow. He don’t want to hurt the team by shooting.”
Ball, meanwhile, has proven his ability to score in the grand stage, where he poured in 29 points in his second regular-season against the Phoenix Suns.
Since then, the 20-year-old point guard has struggled to crack double digits in the scoring department, punctuated by a scoreless game against the Portland Trailblazers where he only took two shots. Khristian Ibarrola /ra
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