Lakers Reveal Shocking Belief For Cause Of Lonzo Ball's Knee Problems

While the Chicago Bulls are worried that star point guard Lonzo Ball may never play in the NBA again due to his mysterious and frustrating knee injury that has lingered for nearly two years now, his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers, think they know the reason for Ball's troubles:

It must be the shoes. 

The Lakers' theory has always been that wearing his father's Big Baller Brand shoes at the beginning of his career is the cause for his endless knee misery. “Lakers believe his initial injury was caused by his shoes," said ESPN's Doug Gottlieb. "BBB were complete trash, (they had) no R&D like Nikes, (they were) just thrown together.”

Even Lonzo himself admitted at one time, long before his injury troubles began, that those shoes, which he wore even before entering the NBA, were a problem. 

“The Zo2s I was playing in, they were not ready, I had to switch them up every quarter because they would just rip,” said Ball at the time. Yikes. 

Ball became a star in the NBA nevertheless, averaging 11.9 points, 6.2 assists, and 5.7 rebounds over his first 4½ seasons, and signed an $84M contract with the Bulls in 2021. He had actually abandoned the BBB shoes entering the 2019-20 season, but the damage had apparently already been done. 

In January of 2022, he suffered the serious knee injury, which has kept him out ever since, and he is expected to miss all of next season as well after a third surgery. 

Photo: Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports