Lonzo Ball has found himself in limbo as no team has picked him up since he was waived by the Utah Jazz in February after acquiring him in a three-team deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Atlanta Hawks.
The Cavaliers signed Ball in the offseason, but he only lasted 35 games, playing a limited role off the bench. He became even more expendable with the arrival of James Harden.
Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson was bullish on the addition of the selfless guard, touting his vision and playmaking. Atkinson, however, could not find ample minutes for Ball.
The 28-year-old Ball has been under multiple mentors in the NBA, but on “Ball in the Family,” he claimed that his father, LaVar Ball, and his former coach at UCLA, Steve Alford, coached him harder.
“I felt like I was coached a certain way for a long period of my life, so when I got to the league, this was weird to me. Like if I was playing badly, somebody would be, ‘Oh, it’s okay.’ That wasn’t translating to me. I'd rather hear like, ‘What the f***? Do your s***.’ It was an adjustment. I haven’t been around a lot of coaches who are going to get on you like that,” said Ball.
“Stan Van Gundy was kind of tough, I guess. But other than him, there’s really not hard coaching out here. I got coached much harder in college and by my pops for real.”
He and his younger brothers, LiAngelo Ball and LaMelo Ball, have often credited their dad for pushing them to become good players. The elder Ball was chastised for his flamboyance, but it is hard to discredit his work in turning his sons into professional hoopers.
Aside from Atkinson and Van Gundy, Ball has played for Luke Walton, Alvin Gentry, and Billy Donovan in the NBA.
He enjoyed his best seasons under Van Gundy on the New Orleans Pelicans, averaging 13.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 1.4 steals in 118 games.
Ball has struggled to regain his form since suffering a knee injury in 2022, which forced him to sit out back-to-back seasons.
