Lonzo and LaMelo-one drafted second overall, the other third.
Friday night (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) they will play against each other, one for the New Orleans Pelicans and one for the Charlotte Hornets.
The following written content via ESPN
TWO BROTHERS IN the NBA. One drafted second overall, the other third. On Friday night (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) they will play against each other, one for the New Orleans Pelicans and one for the Charlotte Hornets. They will guard each other for the first time in an organized game, a couple of oversized point guards with similar talents and different personalities.
They’re here despite — or maybe because of? — all that swirls around them: the static created by their celebrity; the criticism of their games; the endless bellowing of LaVar Ball — their father and hype man — who insists it was all preordained, that he knew his sons would play in the NBA before they left the womb. But it’s worth pausing to recognize just how unlikely this moment is.
Lonzo Ball started all of this. He took a more traditional route, a season at UCLA before being chosen by the Los Angeles Lakers with the second pick of the 2017 draft. He was the Ball family’s forward scout, running ahead to check for danger and report back, allowing LaMelo and middle brother LiAngelo to draft behind him as he accumulated and passed down the knowledge gained along the way. He is the first incarnation of the father’s prophecy, the circumspect one, the older brother who has seen enough of the world to question motive and intent.
LaMelo Ball‘s route was decidedly untraditional, created in part by his brother’s success. Without Lonzo, there wouldn’t be a Big Baller Brand, which means LaMelo wouldn’t have had a signature shoe as a sophomore in high school, which means he wouldn’t have had the college-eligibility issues that ultimately sent him on a worldwide journey, from Lithuania to Ohio to Australia, before being drafted by the Hornets with the third pick in November.
Here’s amazing senior year Lonzo Ball highlights:
