Lakers News: Jason Kidd says being compared to Lonzo Ball is a ‘great compliment’

There have been so many things said about Lonzo Ball it’d be easier to list out things that haven’t been said of the former UCLA star. The phenom making his way to Los Angeles by way of Chino Hills has the league buzzing about what could be the next great pass-first point guard to step foot into the NBA.

Fans and analysts love comparing prospects to other elite NBA talents, and the former star often brought up when Ball’s name is in the air is Jason Kidd. Kidd, of course, is one of the greatest floor generals ever.

It’s not hard to see the similarities, at least when it comes to their court vision and decision making. Or, perhaps the triple-double that Ball logged in his second Las Vegas Summer League game was enough to seal the deal. No matter the case, Kidd’s heard about the comparison plenty at this point to have an opinion on the matter.

"There’s always comparisons of the great players in this league. Of Magic (Johnson), Michael (Jordan), Larry (Bird). There’s always guys who come before for these young players to be compared to. It’s a great compliment,” Kidd told Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times.

It wasn’t the first, nor will it be the last, time Kidd is asked about the Lonzo comparison.

“I have only watched a half [of an UCLA game], I haven’t watched any of the NCAA [tournament]. From what I saw in that half, he’s very talented, he sees the game extremely well and he’s a winner. If that’s the comparison, that’s kind of cool,” Kidd told ClutchPoints back in March when asked about the comparison.

A quick Google search including Ball and Kidd shows countless articles from the last several months comparing the two visionary passers. An entire DraftExpress article was dedicated to comparing how the two stack up against one another as freshmen in college.

A trip to YouTube unearths video after video comparing the two, even. Here are just a few of them:

Kidd averaged 12.6 points, 8.7 assists, 6.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game through his 19-year career and was selected to 12 All-Star teams in that span. All of that’s without mentioning he’s one of the best defensive point guards of all-time, the facet of Lonzo’s game where the comparison falls of.

If Ball can put himself into that kind of territory the Lakers and fans should be thrilled.