"He's better than Dame right now" - Former Bucks guard asserts LaMelo Ball bests Damian Lillard as point guard
So far this season, LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets are outperforming Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks. Ball's 29.4 points per game is fifth on the NBA's scoring leaders list. In addition, Ball is averaging 6.2 assists per game while leading the Hornets to a 4-6 start this season, good for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
For former Bucks guard Brandon Jennings, Ball is playing better than Lillard, who is averaging 26.0 ppg, and 6.6 apg. While Lillard's scoring numbers are up from last season, the Bucks have gotten off to an incredibly slow start to the year, posting a 2-8 record.
With Ball on track for the best scoring season of his career, and the Hornets in play-in contention, the "Gil's Arena" crew debated his place among point guards.
Nick Young ranked Ball in the top 10, while Jennings made the case for LaMelo Ball being above Damian Lillard:
"The first 10 games, he's top five right now," Jennings said on Monday. "And I'm on record saying that right now, and Dame's been hooping too, but he's better than Dame right now."
Gilbert Arenas also shared his thoughts and said that Ball is a pure point guard, but he also can be a pure scorer. As we've seen with this season's scoring numbers, Ball is having a career year.
Nick Young agrees LaMelo Ball is ranked higher than Bucks star Damian Lillard, but names five point guards better
Although Gilbert Arenas argued that Ball is a top five point guard in the NBA, Nick Young wasn't having it. While Ball is a top-five scorer based on league-wide averages, Young thinks that there are several point guards ahead of him.
On Monday's episode of "Gil's Arena," Young named his top five point guards.
"Right now I probably have him above Dame but I'm talking about before I would have Luka (Doncic), Steph (Curry), Ja (Morant), (De'Aaron) Fox, Kyrie (Irving). That was the first year [I had him top five], first year he was balling."
Of the five players mentioned, Ball is outscoring all of them, with Luka Doncic in seventh place with 28.3 ppg.
When it comes to assists, Ball, who averages 7.4 for his career, is averaging the fewest since his rookie year. Doncic, Ja Morant and Stephen Curry are all ahead of him this season.
On Saturday, Ball and Lillard will go head-to-head as the Hornets host the Bucks.