New Orleans Pelicans' point guard Lonzo Ball was sidelined with injuries for the better part of his first two NBA seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, but he has still had the opportunity to go up against some of the game's most prolific scorers. In a recent piece for The Player's Tribune, Lonzo broke down the five most unstoppable players he has ever guarded, including how his father, LaVar, was the toughest of all.
He writes: "The toughest player I’ve ever guarded was definitely my dad. He used to kill me in the backyard growing up. He had no jump shot. No handle. He was just all size and strength. Didn’t matter if I was nine, 12 or 15 years old — he would post me up and talk all this trash about how I couldn’t stop him."
As for the five NBA stars who Lonzo ranks as the most unstoppable: Damian Lillard, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and DeMar DeRozan. In regards to DeRozan, Ball described how nasty he was when they played 5-on-5 at the Lakers’ facility before training camp of his rookie season.
"And I’m not even joking … this guy was calling out his moves before he was even doing them. Going right. Going left. Fadeaway. Stepback. Shimmy. Turnaround jumper. And he just kept hitting shots. It was like clockwork. There was nothing I could do with it."
"He put like 40 on me that day. It was definitely my “Welcome to the NBA” moment. So out of all the guys in the league, I gotta respect Demar DeRozan, because he was the first one who showed me the level I needed to be at to compete in this league."
Click here to check out Lonzo's thoughts about those five NBA stars... and LaVar.