For the first time in their lives, Lonzo and LaMelo Ball will face off in an official basketball game.
The two Ball brothers, three years apart, never met outside of games and duels in the Balls yard. Friday night’s competition between the Lonzo Pelicans of New Orleans and the Charlotte Hornets of LaMelo will be significant for both of them.
“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Lonzo said Thursday. “It’s the first time we’ve teamed up in a real game … I think it just shows that all the hard work has paid off. We’re very close, we grew up doing the same thing, even though he’s younger than me. “
Both brothers talked about backyard games. Lonzo said it was always too big to play 1v1 LaMelo, but there were a lot of 2v2 or 3v3 games. I play today: he is not afraid of any opponent.
LaMelo said “no one calmed down” in the backyard.
“This is probably the most competitive basketball I’ve ever been in the backyard, there fighting, marrying, falling on the concrete, playing hard,” LaMelo said Thursday. “Parents get scared when their kids play like that. It was a lot. Just something you had to witness, really.”
None of the brothers will try to create a chance to label each other when they come to court on Friday night. Instead, they both said they would do what their coaches ask them to do to get out there and win.
Maybe the family group conversation will get the truth, but LaMelo said it’s not about the presentation.
“Everything is love. This is my brother,” LaMelo said. “We grew up together. You know our father is very close to us. We spend every day together. We talk a lot all the time now. He’s still my brother at the end of the day.” Lonzo and LaMelo played together for a year in high school, when Lonzo was a senior and LaMelo was a freshman, along with his brother LiAngelo at Chino Hills High School in California in 2015-16. The team was undefeated and ended the season 35-0.
After that, the two took different paths to get to the NBA. While Lonzo followed the traditional route, playing a season in UCLA, LaMelo chose to go abroad, playing a season in Australian National Basketball League.
“Yes, everyone has to find their own way,” said Lonzo, who is playing in his fourth season in the NBA. “Obviously, we took the more traditional route. He didn’t. But at the end of the day, we both got to where we wanted to be. Hard work is definitely worth it. No matter who you are, if you’ve thought about something you have. he could do it. I really think so. It worked for me. It worked for him. “
Whether it’s playing in the backyard, the Chino Hills or any number of games the two have played over the years, what they wanted to achieve has never changed, LaMelo said.
“Photos and everything have always been the same,” LaMelo said. “I knew we were going to the League, to be successful in the League and to be members of the Hall of Fame. That’s what we’re working for now.”