LaVar Ball Blames Lakers Trainer's 'Bulls--t Training' for Lonzo's Injuries

Lonzo Ball missed 30 games because of injuries during his rookie season, and his father is placing the blame squarely on Los Angeles Lakers head trainer Gunnar Peterson.

During a recent discussion with HoopsHype's Alex Kennedy, LaVar Ball said Peterson's "bulls--t training" led to Lonzo spending extended time on the shelf. 

"My expectation for Lonzo is for him to be twice as good as he was this year, and to be more healthy," he said. "He understands, he went through it. If you’re going to be doing those [workouts with] rubber-bands like that dude Gunnar has him doing, that [is] bulls--t training. That's what I call it. S--t, he wasn't like that when I brought him over there. When he first came [to the Lakers], he never got hurt. He was never hurt."

LaVar added that Lonzo plans to hit the weight room hard this summer to ensure he's built enough to withstand the grind of an 82-game season. 

"It's about being strong and durable," he said. "If you're training the right way, you're going to get that. But everybody acts like it’s a special thing like, 'Okay, this guy got big because he was [training] under this guy.' No! Either you’re going to do it or you’re not. And a lot of people come in the [league] young not lifting weights. My boys were bred on lifting weights. Our whole damn family is buff."

Incidentally, Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma told ESPN.com's Ohm Youngmisuk on Tuesday that Lonzo has been lifting more consistently ever since the regular season ended. 

"He has been in there pretty much every day I have been in here around this time," Kuzma said. "You can tell he is taking the weight room a lot more serious and that is going to help him by allowing him to recover faster and hopefully next year be on the court more because of that weight room."

Ball, 20, missed time last season because of a sprained MCL, knee contusion and sprained left shoulder. 

On Tuesday, the UCLA product was named a member of the All-Rookie second team after he averaged 10.2 points, 7.2 assists, 6.9 rebounds and 1.7 steals a night during his inaugural NBA campaign.