40 Fun Facts About Lonzo Ball

Which NBA team selected California native Lonzo Ball with the second overall pick of the 2017 draft?

The Los Angeles Lakers were picking second for the third year running, and the team's president billed the hometown guard as the new face of the franchise.

Lonzo Ball broke whose record in 2017 as the NBA's youngest player to post a triple-double?

LeBron James had held the mark until Ball beat it by five days, aged 20 years and 15 days, in a loss to Milwaukee. Ball had idolized him since about the age of six.

Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart were all traded in July 2019 for which All-Star?

Anthony Davis cost a haul of three young players, the draft rights to De'Andre Hunter, two first-round picks and a pick swap.

What was the launch price of Lonzo Ball's first signature sneaker from Big Baller Brand in 2017?

$495 was the price tag, which sparked wide criticism from celebrities and on social media, partly because Ball had not yet played an NBA game.

LaVar Ball, the outspoken father of Lonzo Ball, claimed he could beat which NBA legend one-on-one?

Michael Jordan was the target of the boast, which LaVar made to USA Today in March 2017 while his eldest son was still a college freshman.

Which injured joint kept Lonzo Ball out of the entire 2022–23 and 2023–24 NBA seasons?

Left knee surgery for a meniscus tear in January 2022 was meant to cost him six to eight weeks. He did not play again until October 2024, after a cartilage transplant.

As which costumed character did Lonzo Ball compete on season four of The Masked Singer in 2020?

Whatchamacallit lasted until Week 8 of the season, when Ball was unmasked on the same night as the singing doctor Elvis Francois, who performed as Serpent.

Lonzo Ball and his two younger brothers led which California high school to a 35–0 season in 2016?

Chino Hills won the state title and finished as the consensus top-ranked team in the nation, with Ball averaging a triple-double as a senior.

At which college did Lonzo Ball spend one season, leading the nation in assists as a freshman?

UCLA went from 15–17 the year before to 31–5 with Ball running the offense, and he broke the school's record for assists in a season.

Which part of Lonzo Ball's game had a famously unorthodox form that he rebuilt early in his NBA career?

His jump shot started at his left hip and rose to the left side of his forehead, though he shoots right-handed. After he squared it up, his three-point accuracy climbed from 31% as a rookie to 42% in 2021–22.

Which team did Lonzo Ball join in 2019, playing two seasons with top draft pick Zion Williamson?

The New Orleans Pelicans gave him his healthiest stretch, and in 2020–21 he set what were then career highs in scoring and three-point percentage.

Which team gave Lonzo Ball a four-year, $85 million contract in a 2021 sign-and-trade deal?

The Chicago Bulls had the best record in the Eastern Conference, 27–13, when he was hurt in January 2022, and he was shooting a career-best 42% from three.

LaVar Ball claimed in 2017 that Lonzo Ball was already a better player than which Golden State star?

Stephen Curry had just won back-to-back NBA MVP awards, in 2015 and 2016, when LaVar made the claim about a son who was still a college freshman.

Which team drafted LaMelo, the youngest brother of Lonzo Ball, with the third overall pick in 2020?

The Charlotte Hornets landed the NBA Rookie of the Year for 2021, who was named an All-Star the following season.

Which forward was drafted third overall in 2017, one pick after Lonzo Ball?

Jayson Tatum was the player Boston wanted wherever it picked, and he went on to lead the Celtics to the 2024 NBA championship.

Which Hall of Famer, often compared to Lonzo Ball, coached against his first NBA triple-double?

Jason Kidd, then coaching Milwaukee, had called the comparison a stretch that week. In college, Ball's 274 assists had edged Kidd's 272 for second on the conference's single-season list.

In his 2017 rap single Super Saiyan, Lonzo Ball compares himself to which anime hero?

Goku is the main protagonist of Dragon Ball Z, and the track followed a debut single that Ball wrote as an ode to his youngest brother.

LaVar Ball, father of Lonzo Ball, had a brief professional career in which sport during the 1990s?

Football took him to the London Monarchs as a tight end and onto the practice squads of the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, though he never played a regular-season NFL game.

In which city did Lonzo Ball win NBA Summer League MVP in 2017 with two triple-doubles?

Las Vegas had not seen a Summer League triple-double since 2008, and Ball's were the first there by a rookie; his 9.3 assists a game set a league record.

Which guard was the only player drafted ahead of Lonzo Ball in 2017, going first overall?

Markelle Fultz had faced Ball in college that February, scoring 25 points to Ball's 22 in front of close to two dozen NBA executives.

Which team traded forward Isaac Okoro to acquire Lonzo Ball in July 2025?

The Cleveland Cavaliers used him mostly off the bench, starting him in only three of his 35 games in the 2025–26 season.

Which rookie teammate of Lonzo Ball made the 2018 NBA All-Rookie First Team, one rung above him?

Kyle Kuzma exceeded expectations as a late first-round pick, while Ball's own season was cut to 52 games by injuries.

Which guard scored 39 points, an NCAA tournament freshman record, to end Lonzo Ball's college run?

De'Aaron Fox outplayed Ball, who strained a hamstring in the loss but would not use it as an excuse and declared for the NBA draft straight afterwards.

Which veteran guard was signed in 2018 to mentor Lonzo Ball and compete with him for minutes?

Rajon Rondo joined in the same offseason that brought a four-time MVP to the roster, a signing that shifted the spotlight away from Ball.

Which guard, the No. 2 pick of 2015, was traded in June 2017 to clear the way for Lonzo Ball?

D'Angelo Russell was moved on days before the draft, leaving Ball and the previous year's second pick to headline the team's young core.

Which fellow rookie matched Lonzo Ball in 2017 with multiple triple-doubles in his first 20 games?

Ben Simmons and Ball joined Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, Connie Hawkins and Art Williams as the only players to manage it that early in an NBA career.

Lonzo Ball and his family starred in the reality series Ball in the Family on which platform?

Facebook Watch premiered the show in August 2017, two months after the draft, and it followed all five members of the family across six seasons.

In which Orange County, California, city was Lonzo Ball born in October 1997?

Anaheim was his birthplace, and both of his parents, LaVar and Tina, were former college basketball players; he took up the game at the age of two.

In which country did Lonzo Ball's brothers LiAngelo and LaMelo turn professional in December 2017?

Lithuania's club Prienai signed both brothers after LaMelo left high school over a coaching dispute, and the move was heavily reported by American sports media.

Which Better Business Bureau grade did Big Baller Brand, Lonzo Ball's shoe company, receive in 2018?

An F was the rating, after customers reported waiting weeks or even months for their orders, and it was still in place a year later.

Which Big Baller Brand co-founder did Lonzo Ball cut ties with in 2019 over a missing $1.5 million?

Alan Foster, a family friend who helped design the brand's shoes, was accused by Ball of enriching himself. Ball then covered up his brand tattoo.

Which honor, given to the nation's top college freshman, did Lonzo Ball win in 2017?

The Wayman Tisdale Award is presented by the basketball writers' association, and Ball was also the only freshman finalist that year for three national player of the year prizes.

Lonzo Ball's outline is the logo of which league, launched by his father LaVar in 2018?

The Junior Basketball Association was pitched as a paid alternative to the college game for high school graduates, but it lasted just one season, with eight teams.

Which fellow freshman joined Lonzo Ball on the first-team all-conference list in 2017?

T. J. Leaf also joined Ball on the midseason Wooden Award list, making theirs one of just five schools with two candidates.

Which coach, hired by Lonzo Ball's team in 2020, moved him off the ball into a 3-and-D role?

Stan Van Gundy had Zion Williamson bring the ball up instead, so Ball's assists fell to 5.7 a game in a role he had never played before.

Which head coach guided Lonzo Ball's college team to a 31–5 record in his only season there?

Steve Alford was in his fourth year in charge and also started his own son, Bryce, who made the all-conference first team alongside Ball.

Whose 30-year-old conference record for assists by a freshman did Lonzo Ball break in 2017?

Gary Payton's mark fell in the regular-season finale, when Ball handed out a career-high 14 assists in a win over Washington State.

Which team acquired Lonzo Ball in a February 2026 trade and waived him the same day?

The Utah Jazz never fielded him: the trade and the release came on the same day, leaving a former second overall pick without a team.

On which TV show did Lonzo Ball and his father LaVar appear as competitors in February 2018?

Lip Sync Battle featured the pair on the same day that Ball released his debut rap album under the name Zo.

Lonzo Ball was picked in 2018 and 2019 for which All-Star Weekend event, only to withdraw injured?

The Rising Stars game went ahead without him both times, the second after a Grade 3 ankle sprain in January that proved to be season-ending.