Heading into the 2017-18 NBA season, December was going to be an extremely challenging month for the Los Angeles Lakers as they faced the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors (twice), and Houston Rockets (twice). While the Lakers defeated the Rockets once and were competitive against the Cavaliers and Warriors, it has resulted in a nine-game losing streak.

As Lonzo Ball made his return against the Charlotte Hornets after missing six games with a shoulder injury, LaVar Ball shared his thoughts about the current situation in Los Angeles according to John Goodman of ESPN:

“You can see they're not playing for Luke no more,” Ball said from a spa resort in Birstonas, where he is staying while his two youngest sons, LiAngelo and LaMelo, get ready to make their professional debuts with Lithuanian team Prienu Vytautas. “Luke doesn't have control of the team no more. They don't want to play for him.”

Ball's father believes the Lakers are a good team, but Walton is simply too young to lead them:

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“That's a good team,” he added of the Lakers, who have lost nine straight games. “Nobody wants to play for him. I can see it. No high-fives when they come out of the game. People don't know why they're in the game. He's too young. He's too young. … He ain't connecting with them anymore. You can look at every player, he's not connecting with not one player.”

Following Ball's comments, it will be interesting to see how the situation is handled now. In December, President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka reportedly had a meeting with Ball asking him to tone down the public criticism of Walton.

After an optimistic start to the season, the Lakers currently have the second-worst record in the league. As they host the Atlanta Hawks (worst team in the league), the hope is they can get their first win of the new year.