These days, it's quite the conundrum being Lonzo Ball. On one hand, he's one of the most highly-touted prospects to arrive in the NBA in some point, a man who also happens to be suiting up for one of the league's most storied franchises in the Los Angeles Lakers. However, with an abysmal shooting percentage and a father who continues to make headlines for his outspoken mannerisms, Lonzo has seen a dark cloud appear over his rookie season. However, in a recent chat with ESPN, the Mamba himself had some words of wisdom for the eldest Ball offspring.
In Kobe Bryant's mind, Lonzo Ball and the rest of the Lakers prospects should be focused on getting better now and not settling for a patient, "let's see what happens" kind of mentality. "He needs to get better now, Kyle Kuzma, better now. Julius Randle, better now. Players, you want that now." He expanded on this train of thought moments later, saying that players aren't content to just bide their time until next season.
"We never thought, ‘OK, we’re going to win four years from now,'" added Kobe. "We really thought this is our year. We’re going to get this done. We’re going to push, push, push, push, push to get better now.’ And in the process of having that impatience, you develop. If you’re just patiently going about it, you’ll never get there. For players, it’s kind of patient impatience.”
All that being said, Kobe Bryant also tweeted that Lonzo would be "just fine" and presumably go on to have a prosperous NBA career. Time for the BBB youngster to take on some of that Mamba Mentality.