Lonzo Ball Finds His Shot, and a Fresh Start, in New Orleans

LOS ANGELES — Zion Williamson was working up a sweat. Wearing a sleeveless hoodie and a padded brace, on his surgically repaired right knee, Williamson took dribble handoffs, pulled up for midrange jumpers and drove for dunks.

As a small army of assistant coaches monitored Williamson’s pregame workout at Staples Center on Friday, Lonzo Ball, one of his teammates on the New Orleans Pelicans, emerged from a courtside tunnel and sat on the visiting bench. Dozens of early-arriving fans remained fixated on Williamson, capturing every dribble, every shot, every breath on their phones. Ball laced up his sneakers in relative obscurity, then joined Williamson on the court for some work of his own.

Not long ago, Ball was the future star, a gifted guard out of U.C.L.A. with vision and length, a fresh face for the N.B.A. — and for the Lakers, who selected him with the No. 2 pick in the 2017 draft. Three years later, at the crusty age of 22, far from the glare of Los Angeles, Ball is trying to assemble his game in a new city, with a new team.

“My body feels good, and my confidence is where it’s supposed to be,” said Ball, who scored a team-high 23 points on 10 of 16 shooting in the Pelicans’ 123-113 loss to the Lakers, his first game against his former team. He was out sick when the Lakers played in New Orleans earlier this season.

Source: The New York Times

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