LaVar Ball was once again vindicated after warning the Washington Wizards from targeting his son Lonzo Ball as the Los Angeles Lakers walked away with a 102-99 overtime win on Wednesday night.
Wizards center Marcin Gortat and point guard John Wall both promised to make this a nightmare outing for the No. 2 overall selection, but the joke was ultimately on them as they lost their first game of the season. While they did limit Ball to a 2-of-11 shooting night, he had his fingerprints all over it, recording a game-high plus-13 rating.

Article Continues Below“You see Gortat, he put [Wall] in trouble like that. Don't put no pressure on your point guard like that,” LaVar told Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report after the game. “He's not me. Lonzo, I've been telling him since he's been a baby. It's easy to him.”
“I already knew what was going to happen. Like I tried to tell you all, he won't be losing two games. Even if I'm wrong or right, you know what I'm going to do? Go get me some donuts and go back to sleep.”
Lonzo's biggest play came at the defensive end, getting a critical stop on Wall with the Lakers up three in the winding seconds of the overtime period. The rookie had the speed disadvantage against Wall, but shaded his right side, impeding a clean look at a three-point attempt to tie the game.

LaVar wasn't rattled by his son's poor shooting to start the season, but rather the Ws in the column at the end of the night.
“Go get that W,” LaVar said. “Now the good thing about Zo is, [we] don't worry about no stats. I told him, ‘Hey, they got you for one reason, close these games [out].'”
“It's a team game. That's how you're going to beat someone. If you go one-on-one, you're never going to win. “If you keep taking it personal, trying to go one-on-one with my son, you're going to lose every time.”