Lonzo Ball’s Summer League performances by the shoes he’s worn

In his first game as an NBA player, Lonzo Ball played against the LA Clippers. It was his first game since his UCLA Bruins lost to Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen in March. With almost four months between games, one would assume that there’d be a little rust, if not nerves for his first pro game.

His first play as a Los Angeles Laker was an impressive lob pass to Brandon Ingram. It seemed the new era of the Lakers had begun. But then Lonzo ended his night with a paltry stat line of 5 points off 2-for-15 shooting. He accompanied that with 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Her certainly bounced back after that by putting up a stat line of 36 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, and five steals a few games later.

You can credit that to jitters ... or, and hear me out on this ... it could be the shoes. Let’s break it down:

Ball only scored five points while wearing Big Baller Brand shoes in his first game. But he also wore them during his game against the Celtics, where he recorded his first triple double with 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. In the two games wearing BB, Lonzo averaged 8 points, 8 assists, and 7.5 rebounds. It’s not a bad ... but Lonzo has shown he can do better.

Ball had a breakout night wearing Kobes scoring 36 points, eight rebounds, 11 assists, and five steals. WHEW. Even LeBron James, who stopped by to watch both lottery teams, noticed and posted a clever Nike ad on Instagram about it. Ball referred to this game as “Mamba Mentality.”

This game he sported James Harden’s shoes, the same ones he wore during his workout with the Lakers during the draft, by Adidas. Against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Ball ad 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists.

Lonzo Ball came out in yet another pair of shoes in the Summer League quarterfinals of the playoffs. This time, wearing the latest Steph Curry shoes. He finished the night with 14 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists and another Lakers win. Quite the solid stat line from Ball.

Lonzo Ball went out early in the third quarter of this game but he stats in the first half were off to a great start. In his Jordan Brand shoes he had 14 points, 10 assists, and four rebounds. He’d finish with 16 points before taking a seat to avoid any further or serious injury. We’ll never know the full potential of these Jordan 31s.

It is admittedly a small sample size, but if Ball wants to maximize his stats, he should probably stick to the Kobes.