Lonzo Ball is part of a select group of people to be on an NBA roster and he believes there are a fair few who are good enough to be in the league but aren’t. On The WAE Show, Ball stated some players in the NBA aren’t as good as some who aren’t in it.
“There’s players in the NBA that are not as good as some players that are not in the NBA,” Ball said. “And I think a lot of people in the NBA would testify to that. There’s a lot of things that go on other than just the player.”
“Political/opportunity/situation, there’s a lot of s*** that goes into it,” Ball stated. “I don’t necessarily think that the 450 people, or however many there is in the league, are the very best people in the world. I don’t believe that… It’s a bunch of things that go into it. A lot of what-ifs.”
I’d say Ball is right not to believe that. There are certainly players who are not in the NBA, who are better than some players currently in the league. As for the reasons, well there are quite a few.
For starters, NBA teams would rather give opportunities to a young player who might have an outside chance of becoming great one day rather than a veteran who is better than said player right now. There are a lot of rookies and sophomores in the NBA who are nowhere near as good as some players who’ve played in the league for longer.
In some cases, the player himself isn’t interested in being in the NBA. We see that with Europeans and Nikola Mirotic is someone who comes to mind. Mirotic was a fine role player in the NBA but chose to leave for Barcelona in 2019. They made him the highest-paid player in Europe at the time and gave him a bigger role than he was getting in the NBA. Mirotic was also going to be closer to home if he made the move and it was a no-brainer for him.
I think politics is one of the reasons as well. As much as we might not want to believe that, it surely does play a part and I suppose Bronny James is an example of that. There are also cases where a player might be talented, but some off-the-court issues make teams think they’re not worth the trouble.
Lonzo Ball Is Finally Back On The Court
Ball finally made his long-awaited return to the court in the 2024 preseason. The 26-year-old had been on the sidelines for nearly three years due to knee injuries and his return was celebrated by all in the basketball world.
Ball also played a lot better than I had expected from someone who had to undergo cartilage transplant surgery. He averaged 10.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game in his two outings for the Chicago Bulls and shot 53.3% from the field and 45.5% from beyond the arc.
Ball’s career seemed over at points in these last couple of years and he deserves a lot of credit for battling through all the hardships and returning to the court. It would have been easy to give up but he persevered and is now reaping the benefits of it.
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