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Fans will look for any reason to dislike or criticize an athlete they just can’t quite buy into. In one specific example this summer, detractors of Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball have latched onto how little video or photo evidence there is of him working out.
But just because Ball hasn’t been on Instagram with all of his workouts doesn’t mean he hasn’t been working. A clip from a recent episode of “Ball in the Family” showed off some of that work, as well as letting Ball address what it was like to see his name come up in trade rumors and speculation over the offseason:
There’s trade rumors every year... Athletes in general, you’re never really 100 percent safe. Wherever you’re at. Anything can happen, especially in the offseason, so all I can do is just make sure I’m ready to play at the best of my abilities.
Here’s the full video of Ball doing just that:
Let’s just think for a second about how ridiculous it is that some people out there think simply because they haven’t seen video evidence of workouts, that the athlete in question who, by the way, worked their ass off and developed the necessary habits to make it to the NBA is definitely just sitting back with their feet up all summer.
This is all before we address the fact that Lonzo had surgery earlier in the offseason and has almost certainly been advised to be smart about working himself to full health before training camp kicks off in a few weeks.
But hey, if someone is illogical enough to believe that lack of Instagram video equals a lack of workouts, chances are they aren’t going to think about cumbersome facts like medical rehabilitation processes and such.
Lonzo’s understanding of how the NBA works is worth noting and shows some great maturity. It will come in handy as he gets ready for a season full of playing alongside LeBron James.
Anytime the team falls short of expectations, speculation is going to start swirling about who on the roster can net the kind of help to help the team meet the fan base’s expectations. Ball’s approach to understanding and dealing with that aspect of the NBA experience is going to go a long way in ensuring he stays focused throughout that noise.