Lonzo Ball made the decision to walk away from a mid-game scuffle between his teammates and players from the Phoenix Suns on Friday night, citing his disinterest in receiving a technical foul as the main reason why.
“It’s the NBA. People ain’t really gonna fight,” Ball said after the game. “I ain’t trying to get no technical.”
The scuffle started when Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Suns rookie Tyler Ulis bumped into each other. What followed after was a series of pushing, shoving and back-and-forth jawing between the teams.
In the video, you can see Lonzo Ball on the left side walking away from the incident. When altercations like this happen, it’s rare to see a player walk away from the situation. Players on the court typically rush to the area and work to break it up.
“Someone on our team talked with him,” Lakers coach Luke Walton said on Saturday, according to ESPN. “It’s all part of a learning process.”
Walton wouldn’t reveal which member of the Lakers discussed the matter with Ball, explaining that it’s more of a locker room discussion than anything else.
“That’s a locker room thing unless they want to share it,” Walton said, according to ESPN. “What our players talk about behind the doors I’m not going to repeat to the media.”
Ball, who was drafted by the Lakers this past June, has had a rocky start to his NBA career. Although he’s averaged 8.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists in 16 games, he’s struggled shooting the ball, averaging just a 31 percent shooting mark from the floor.
