Lonzo Ball Supports Magic Johnson '100 Percent'; Says Ankle Injury Progressing

Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball expressed support on Wednesday for former president of basketball operations Magic Johnson, who stepped down from the position on Tuesday night. 

Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet shared Ball's comments: 

Ball also spoke about his ankle injury and said he progressing in his recovery: 

While injuries were a huge storyline in Ball's season, costing him 35 games, Ball said he felt he was playing his best basketball before the injury woes bit.

"I think those two weeks before I got hurt, I figured it out. I was playing the basketball I'm capable of playing," he said, per Mike Trudell of the Spectrum SportsNet. "Unfortunate I got hurt, and couldn't come back."

Ball, 21, averaged 9.9 points, 5.4 assists and 5.3 rebounds for the Lakers this season, though he continued to struggle with his shooting, finishing 40.6 percent from the field, 32.9 percent from three and just 41.7 percent from the charity stripe.

But the Lakers missed his playmaking and defense when he was injured. Los Angeles was 25-22 with Ball on the court and just 12-23 when he sat.

It was Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka who made the decision to draft Ball No. 2 overall in the 2017 NBA draft, and the jury is still out on that selection.

While players taken below him like Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell have been better NBA players to this point, Ball has still shown plenty of upside, and conceivably is a solid fit next to LeBron James in the future, since Ball is excellent at leading the break but is better off the ball in the halfcourt. That jibes well next to James, who remains most comfortable with the ball in his hands. 

It's a setup Ball enjoyed during the 2018-19 season.

"It was a dream come true for me." Ball said of playing with James, per Trudell. "... He's not only a great basketball player but a great person. ... His IQ is off the charts, he wasn't hard to play with at all."

There are a lot of questions in Los Angeles following Johnson's departure, from whether Luke Walton will remain head coach to whether young players like Ball will remain on the team or be traded for another star. But it sounds as though Ball would be more than happy to remain a Laker next to James.