Lonzo Ball Says He'll 'Play for Anybody' After LaVar Rips Lakers' Luke Walton

Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball did his best to avoid controversy Sunday after his father created more of it.

"I'll play for anybody," Lonzo said when asked if he was all right with Luke Walton as his head coach, per Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times.

The question came after LaVar said Walton had lost the Lakers, per Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com: "You can see they're not playing for Luke no more. Luke doesn't have control of the team no more. They don't want to play for him."

LaVar also said Lonzo "looked disgusted" during Friday's loss to the Charlotte Hornets and criticized the Lakers for putting a minutes restriction on his son even though it was his first game since Dec. 23 because of a shoulder injury.

Lonzo still played well, finishing with 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals in 27 minutes.

For his part, Walton said he was more concerned with his point guard's development than dealing with criticism from the outspoken LaVar. "I'm fine with it," he said, per Ganguli. "It doesn't bother me. My only concern with any of it is for Zo."

Walton may not be concerned, but it isn't the first time the Lakers have made headlines because LaVar has taken shots at the coaching staff.

"They're soft. They don't know how to coach my son," he said in November, per Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. "I know how to coach him. I tell him to go get the victory. Stop messing around."

His father's comments aside, Lonzo is third on the team with 33.7 minutes a night. While he is shooting just 35.2 percent from the field and 30.3 percent from three-point range, he has solid numbers elsewhere: 10.1 points, 7.0 assists, 6.8 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.0 block per game.

He is just 20 years old too, and it is not difficult to envision the Lakers developing into a winner with Lonzo running the show and growing alongside Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma, especially if they can land an impact free agent or two during the offseason.

For now, though, Los Angeles is 11-27 and has lost nine games in a row as one of its players' parent consistently makes his opinion heard.