More bad news has headed the direction of the sixteen-time NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers as guard Lonzo Ball, in his second season out of UCLA, is poised to miss the end of the current NBA season, as reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball has been shut down for the remainder of the season, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Ball had his left ankle re-evaluated by doctors today and sides agreed on course of action.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 10, 2019
Lakers reporter Mike Trudell passed along that the team did officially clear Ball for non-contact basketball activity but he will be re-evaluated in about 2 weeks.
From Lonzo Ball’s re-evaluation by the team medical staff: he continues to make good progress in recovery from the bone bruise related to his sprained ankle, and has been cleared for non-contact basketball activities. He’ll be re-evaluated in 2 weeks.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) March 10, 2019
Lonzo Ball’s ankle injury was sustained in a January match-up with the Houston Rockets, and the Lakers have noticeably missed Ball’s presence on the court, attaining a record of 5-14 in the 19 games without Ball. The news of Ball missing the rest of the season comes shortly after teammate Brandon Ingram was also ruled out for the season following a test revealing deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.
The Lakers have also recently placed a minutes restriction on all-star forward LeBron James as the team comes to terms with their incredibly bleak playoff aspirations.
With the Lakers currently on a five-game losing streak and having lost eight of their last ten, the Lakers have suffered from the absence of Lonzo Ball on both ends of the court, averaging 9.9 points, 5.4 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, with the guard considered one of the Lakers’ most reliable defensive threats.
The Los Angeles Lakers currently sit eleventh in the Western Conference with a record of 30-36.
