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On Friday morning's edition of the CBS Sports Flagrant Two, Minnesota Timberwolves veteran shooting guard Jamal Crawford joined the podcast and opened up about Los Angeles Lakers rising star point guard Lonzo Ball.
Ball, who is off to a slow start in his rookie year in terms of shooting percentage, continues to be subject to massive scrutiny on social media for his play as an underachiever. Regardless of the critics, that didn't stop the 37-year-old Crawford from giving Ball high praise.
When asked about how Ball's career would go, Crawford didn't hesitate to gush over the 20-year-old.
Article Continues Below“Star. Absolutely a star. I love watching him play,” Crawford said of Ball. “He plays the right way. He doesn't play for stats. He'll give the ball up early when he could easily hold it to get an assist. He's making the right play. If it was a hockey assist, he'd get 20 a game cause he's always passing up early. He seems like a great teammate. If you look at all his interviews, he's always well-spoken… he's always about the team.”
Ball, whose unorthodox shooting form continues to be criticized, was defended by Crawford even more.
“No, I wouldn't (change his shot). He's done it his whole life,” Crawford said. “Even if he struggled, I'm sure he's struggled, but when he makes 10 in a row you won't change it then so I'd just keep it consistent.”
Despite the flood of hate over his shooting percentage (30.3 percent from the field) to start his NBA career, Ball has still put up solid numbers en route to 9.0 points, 6.9 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in 32.3 minutes of action per contest.
The Lakers will take on the Phoenix Suns tonight at Staples Center, which serves as a golden opportunity for Ball to light up a highly-suspect Suns defense.
