Since the Los Angeles Lakers selected Lonzo Ball with the second overall pick in this year's draft, team president Magic Johnson has done nothing but voice his praise toward him.
Johnson took that to another level on Tuesday afternoon as he stated that the 19-year-old shares the same level of basketball IQ as him, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
“Lonzo is special, no question about it, because he makes everyone better,” Johnson said. “He does something you can't teach. He gives you a scoring pass. Very few point guards in this league can do that. I am talking about giving you a pass that leads to the score, not just passing it to you.
“I like him because he also is now a great teammate. He has a special effect on people.”
“I think it is the same in terms of the basketball IQ,” Johnson added, about what he and Ball have in common. “What is lacking in our game is a guy that can create a shot for somebody else. That is why Golden State, San Antonio and Cleveland are so good. They got multiple guys who can create a shot for somebody else. That is the one thing that he has that you cannot teach.”
Johnson clearly has some strong faith that Ball can be a transformative player for the Lakers with the numerous comparisons to himself. This is quite some huge praise as the Hall of Famer is regarded as being not only the best point guard of all-time but among the best players ever to play the game. He is also arguably the best passer that the NBA has ever seen.
All of this subsequently created some very big shoes for Ball to fulfill before his NBA career has even begun. However, if Johnson didn't fully believe that the former UCLA product couldn't handle the pressure, he wouldn't continue to make these bold proclamations about him.
It is quite evident that the future of the franchise is in Ball's hands, it's now up to him to do his part in bringing the Lakers back to relevance in the NBA.
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