Rob Pelinka Calls Lonzo Ball 'Transcendent Talent,' Compares Impact to Tom Brady

Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka set the bar high for No. 2 overall pick Lonzo Ball on Thursday, calling the team's new point guard a "transcendent talent." 

Pelinka also compared Ball to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Green Bay Packers signal-caller Aaron Rodgers. 

"Just a transcendent talent," Pelinka said, according to ESPN.com's Baxter Holmes. "There's something very, very special about his basketball abilities. If you use a sports analogy in another sport, you look at passers like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers that just have an ability to do something that is so special with where they put the ball and where they deliver it. I think the vision and the abilities that Lonzo has puts him in a class of being a transcendent talent." 

The comparisons didn't stop there, as Pelinka referenced Steve Nash, Jason Kidd and, of course, Magic Johnson with regard to Ball's passing skills. 

"All of us know that he has the ability to make other players around him better. Without putting too much pressure on a young 19-year-old, we all know there are players that have played in the league—the Steve Nashs and the Jason Kidds—that have had that ability to make others around them better, and of course Magic Johnson being the North Star for everyone." 

Following D'Angelo Russell's departure in a deal with the Brooklyn Nets, the stage has been set for Ball to take over as the Lakers' lead conductor from the moment the 2017-18 season starts. 

And while that may seem like a tall task for a 19-year-old, Ball flashed poise and selflessness beyond his years as a freshman with the UCLA Bruins. 

Now it will be on the Lakers to tap into Ball's developmental reservoir further and mold him into a multi-faceted floor general who can lead the franchise to years of sustained success near the top of the Western Conference.