New Orleans combo-guard Lonzo Ball reveals the lowest point in his young career which he used as a motivating factor.
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Lonzo Ball is one of the brightest young talents we have in the league. Sure, he isn’t the superstar Magic Johnson had marketed him to be, but the New Orleans Pelicans guard has definitely proven to be a great potential All-Star calibre player.
As everyone knows, Ball was the 2nd pick of the 2017 Draft, only behind Markelle Fultz. Even though one would believe that there were quite a few players who were better picks than Zo, no one can deny the prospect he was during his high school and college days.
Entering UCLA, Lonzo was the number 2 player in his class. However, this wasn’t the case during all four years of his high school. There was one particular instance which Ball considers to be the lowest point of his career, which he used as fuel and helped motivate him to become the player he is today.
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“I got cut from the USA camp and that shaped my whole high school career”: Lonzo Ball
On a “Who’s Interviewing Who” video with Uninterrupted, the Chino Hills native discussed the lowest moment of his career with former NBA legend Robert Horry and fellow Pelicans teammate Jaxson Hayes. Ball disclosed:
“My lowest moment in basketball came after my freshman year in high school. My pops never let me play AAU or travel ball or nothing like that so I was just local kid nobody really knew about. But I got an invitation to the USA camp to make the team.”
“And I ended up getting cut. And that kind of shaped my whole high school career from that. Because I was like ‘There’s no way I’m not one of the best 15 players in my class.’”
“I went from not even being ranked to I think I made it to No. 2 by the time I was a senior. It just gave me motivation just to chase all the guys in front of me that people thought were better than me.”
Ball is most likely referring to the 2013 U16 National Team camp. That roster had several future NBA players like Josh Jackson, Thomas Bryant, Harry Giles, Terrance Ferguson. It is safe to say that Zo is a much better talent than these players, apart from one player on that team – Jayson Tatum.
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No doubt the 23-year-old has proven all the selectors and doubters wrong. After averaging 14.6 points, 5.7 assists and 4.8 rebounds this season, Ball is one of the best players available in the free agency this offseason. Any team that manages to acquire this pass-first point guard will have a strong and unselfish leader on their team.
