Lonzo Ball reminisces about his electrifying high school days that ignited the nation: "It was pretty wild"
Lonzo Ball was a five-star recruit in high school for the Chino Hills Huskies in California. The Chicago Bulls guard recollected his popularity in high school and how fun it was back then to see people tune in to watch him play.
On Trae Young's From The Point podcast, Ball discussed his high school career at Chino Hills. He reckoned it was too easy during his junior year, and the addition of LaMelo Ball in his senior season made it an even more enjoyable experience.
"When I first knew I can make the NBA was like seventh grade," Lonzo said. "I would say the turning point is probably my junior year. I felt like I was light years better than everybody. I was playing point guard on offense and center on defense, so I just felt like high school was too easy for me.
"My senior year was like a movie. My other brother came, Melo, that was a lot of fun. We had to move arenas to go to bigger places because everything was sold out. People were scoping tickets for hundreds of dollars to go see high school kids. It was pretty wild."
Lonzo Ball was a top recruit in high school and played one season for the UCLA Bruins. Ball was drafted second overall by the LA Lakers in 2017. There was a lot of hype surrounding him, especially due to his father, LaVar Ball's hype.
Ball had a solid two years with the Lakers before getting traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019 as part of the Anthony Davis trade. He played two great seasons in New Orleans before signing with the Chicago Bulls in 2021. He had a great first year in Chicago, but a knee injury forced him out for the rest of the 2021-22 season.
To exacerbate matters, Ball missed the entire 2022-23 season due to discomfort in his surgically repaired left knee. He underwent cartilage transplant in March, but the Bulls have already ruled him out of the entire 2023-24 season, too.
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Is Lonzo Ball's career over?
Lonzo Ball has undergone multiple surgeries to his left knee, and there's even speculation that his basketball career might be over.
The cartilage transplant he had back in March is experimental and was reportedly done to improve his quality of life, as per Dan Bernstein of 670 The Score's.
"There's a reason why for you're pursuant to all kinds of union issues, why they haven't asked for the salary exemption yet because they don't want to send the message publicly that they're done with him," Bernstein said.
"They don't think it’s likely that he ever plays again. ... "That was our speculation when we heard about experimental cartilage replacement surgery. It is incredibly rare and is much more likely being done just for his quality of life off of the basketball court."
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