Lakers Coach Calls Out Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram: 'We Need More Passion'
When LeBron James went down with a groin injury on Christmas Day, the Los Angeles Lakers were 20-14.
James has been on the sidelines ever since, and in that time the Lakers have lost five of their last six to fall to 21-19.
The Lakers have looked lost without their superstar, and coach Luke Walton is calling on his two lottery picks, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball, to step up.
Both Ingram and Ball were drafted No. 2 — Ingram in 2016, Ball in 2017 — but have not yet lived up to expectations. Walton is being patient, but his patience may be wearing thin.
New story: After another rough loss, Luke Walton challenged his young core to bring more fire to the fight for the Lakers https://t.co/lgJd1S2o41
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 7, 2019
“They’re trying, but they’re young,” Walton said of Ball and Ingram, ESPN reported. “At some point, we need more passion. We need more fight. And that’s not scoring more. That’s more diving for loose balls, communicating loudly, grabbing (rebounds).”
That passion was missing in an awful 108-86 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. It was the third straight loss for the Lakers, who have fallen behind their LA rivals the Clippers (23-16) in the Western Conference.
Ingram had 13 points and 5 rebounds, while ball had 0 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists in the loss. Lance Stephenson led LA with 14 points.
“Brandon had some really nice crack-back rebounds tonight that we can get out and run (from). We need that all the time from him. So, it’s not just them, but until we get healthy again, you got to play in this league with some passion and fire,” Walton said after the game.
“It’s hard to win in this league when you are healthy. So you need to double that effort when guys are down,” he added.
Walton was surely trying to light a fire under them for Monday night’s matchup against Dallas on the road.
They called Lonzo Ball the next Jason Kidd. They called Brandon Ingram the next Kevin Durant.pic.twitter.com/DYZWFkdHzJ
— keep that in house ? (@OriginalBayArea) January 3, 2019
“I talk about it with them all the time,” Walton said of the two 21-year-olds. “There’s no secret to it. As far as finding that way, I can find it with a lot of people. I don’t have the exact answer on those ones yet. But I also have all the belief in the world in them that they’ll figure it out and they’ll get it going.
“So, they know that we need them, and they’ll get it going for us.”
Ball didn’t disagree with that assessment.
“We weren’t physical enough,” Ball told ESPN. “That’s a big, strong team over there. I don’t think we brought the fight today.
“We’re down a lot of scorers right now,” he said. “I’ve got to pick up that load. Obviously I didn’t do it tonight. I got to pick it up tomorrow.”
James won’t be playing against Dallas on Monday night. There is a chance he’ll return Wednesday when the Lakers host Detroit.
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