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$35 million Lonzo Ball would never take LeBron James for granted following Lakers trade

Samir Mehdi
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$35 million Lonzo Ball would never take LeBron James for granted following Lakers trade

Lonzo Ball reveals just how grateful he is about his time spent with LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers.

Lonzo Ball was touted as being one of the greatest guard prospects of the 2010s coming out of his freshman year at UCLA. Of course, the Los Angeles Lakers dealt D’Angelo Russell away just before taking him 2nd overall in 2017 at the behest of Magic Johnson who claimed Ball was more of a leader in comparison to D-Lo.

However, mere 2 years into his career with the purple and gold, Lonzo was traded away alongside Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for NBA Top 75 player, Anthony Davis. Zo’s final year in Tinseltown came with an unexpected benefit and that was his chance to play with LeBron James.

LeBron made his way to the Lakers after dragging a lackluster Cavaliers team to the NBA Finals in 2018. Looking for a fresh start, he headed West.

While he was only teammates with Lonzo Ball for close to half a season (James sat out almost half the year due to a lingering groin injury), the two formed quite the brother-like bond with one another.

Also read: LeBron James almost gave up $4 million for 3 particular colleges back in 2004

Lonzo Ball on how he views his time with LeBron James.

While Lonzo Ball didn’t live up to the Jason Kidd-like expectations that were placed on him coming into the NBA, he still managed to snag a respectable second contract. This was worth $80 million over 4 years while with the Pelicans, bringing his net worth to $35 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

During his time away from LeBron James and the Lakers, he’s remained quite close to him. in a recent interview, Ball said, “He was my favorite player growing up, so being able to share the court with him and learn from him was a time in my life I’ll never get back, I’ll take for granted.”

Now with the Chicago Bulls, Lonzo proved himself to be the team’s best perimeter defenders alongside fellow former Laker, Alex Caruso. However, his time out on NBA hardwood has been cut short due to a lingering knee injury.

Also read: “Rich Paul pulled me, I won’t say no!”: Jayson Tatum describes his photos with Stephen Curry, LeBron James at Draymond Green’s wedding

    About the author

    Samir Mehdi

    Samir Mehdi

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    Samir Mehdi is a senior strategist for the NBA division at The Sportsrush. Ever since he was 13 years old, he’s been obsessed with the game of basketball. From watching Kobe Bryant’s highlights on YouTube to now, analyzing and breaking down every single game on League Pass, Samir’s passion for the game is unwavering. He's a complete basketball junkie who not only breaks down current games but also keenly watches ones from the 60s’ and 70s’ while also reading comprehensive books on the history of the league. Samir’s life revolves around basketball and he hopes that shows in his work. Aside from work, he loves to spend time in the gym and with his friends at social gatherings.

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