Lonzo Ball expected losing to hurt everyone in an NBA locker room, but his early Lakers experience showed him that was not always the case.
Lonzo Ball entered the NBA expecting the intensity surrounding winning and losing to reach another level. His first two seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers showed him something different.
Ball recently reflected on one of the biggest adjustments he faced after the Lakers selected him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. It wasn't the competition or pressure that surprised him most. It was seeing how some people responded to losing.
“The Lakers, I would say this: that’s the first time I took a loss and just looked around and nobody really was tripping,” Ball said. “That just kind of shocked me a little bit. I didn’t think the league was going to be like that.
“If I lost a basketball game, bro, I’m about to cry. I’m pissed, for real, for real.”
For Ball, basketball had always carried that type of emotional investment. He grew up in Southern California, starred at Chino Hills High School and UCLA and arrived in Los Angeles with enormous expectations.
Losing became part of Ball’s early Lakers experience
Ball joined a Lakers organization still attempting to climb out of one of the worst stretches in franchise history.
Los Angeles finished 35-47 during his rookie season in 2017-18, missing the playoffs for a fifth consecutive year. LeBron James arrived the following summer, but L.A. went 37-45 and again missed the postseason as injuries and inconsistency derailed the season.
Ball played 99 games across his two seasons with the Lakers with a 49-50 record before being included in the blockbuster trade that brought Anthony Davis to Los Angeles in 2019.
What stayed with Ball was the contrast between how he processed defeats and what he sometimes saw around him.
“That was just a shock for me, seeing like, damn, we just took a loss and people still smiling and talking and laughing and joking,” Ball said. “I thought NBA was the highest form of basketball. We supposed to think we about to win every game.”
His comments don't necessarily mean teammates didn't care. NBA players have different ways of handling an 82-game season, where dwelling on every loss can quickly become counterproductive.
Feb 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Former UCLA BruinsLonzoBallis introduced to the crowd as the team's honorary captain for the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn ImagesBut for a 20-year-old, at the time, accustomed to treating every game as enormously important, the adjustment was noticeable.
Lakers eventually changed their expectations
The environment around the Lakers changed considerably once James arrived.
Although his first season ended without a playoff appearance, L.A. acquired Davis the following summer and won the 2020 NBA championship. The organization went from developing Ball, Brandon Ingram and other young players to building around established stars with championship expectations.
Jan 15, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los AngelesLakersguardLonzoBall(2) attempts a shot as Chicago Bulls forward Chandler Hutchison (15) looks on during the third quarter at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY SportsBall never got to experience that transformation as a Laker.
Instead, his two seasons in Los Angeles represented the final stages of the franchise's rebuild.
Nearly a decade later, his comments offer an interesting look at what stood out to a young player entering the NBA.
He quickly learned that the emotional reality of professional basketball were different.
