For the first time in their lives, Lonzo and LaMelo Ball are taking on an official basketball game.
The two Ball brothers, three years apart, have never met outside of games and duels in the Balls’ backyard. The Friday night game between Lonzo’s New Orleans Pelicans and LaMelo’s Charlotte Hornets will be meaningful for both.
“I think it will be a lot of fun,” said Lonzo on Thursday. “This is the first time we’ve paired up in a real game … I think it just goes to show that all the hard work paid off. We are very close, we grew up together and did the same, even though is he younger than me. “
Both brothers talked about backyard games growing up. Lonzo said he was always too big to play 1v1 LaMelo, but there were a lot of 2v2 or 3v3 games. He said that LaMelo had to play against a bigger league all his life, so he’s in his I’m playing today: he’s not afraid of any opponent.
LaMelo said “nobody took it easy” in the backyard.
“That’s probably the most competitive basketball I’ve ever played in the backyard, fighting back there, demolishing it, falling on concrete, playing hard,” LaMelo said Thursday. ‘Parents get scared when their children play like this. It was a lot. Just something you really had to witness. ‘
Neither brother will try to create an opportunity to tag each other when they enter court Friday night. Instead, they both said they would do what their respective coaches asked them to go out and take the win.
Maybe the family group chat is getting the truth, but LaMelo said this isn’t about showing off.
“Everything is love. That’s my brother,” said LaMelo. ‘We grew up together. You know our father is very close to us. We spend every day together. We now talk a lot with each other. He’s still my brother at the end of the day. ‘ Lonzo and LaMelo played together in high school for a year, when Lonzo was a senior and LaMelo a freshman, along with his brother LiAngelo at Chino Hills High School in California in 2015-16. That team was unbeaten and finished the season 35-0.
After that, the two took different paths to join the NBA. While Lonzo followed the traditional route, he played in a season UCLA, LaMelo chose to go abroad and played a season in the Australian National Basketball League.
“Yes, everyone has to find their own way,” said Lonzo, who is in his fourth NBA season. “Obviously I took the more traditional route. He didn’t. But at the end of the day we both ended up where we wanted to be. The hard work is well worth it. It doesn’t matter who you are, if “You want to do something you could do. I really believe it. It worked for me. It worked for him.”
Whether it’s playing in the backyard, playing Chino Hills, or the number of games the two have played over the years, what they set out to achieve has never changed, LaMelo said.
“The pictures and everything has always been the same,” said LaMelo. “We knew we were going to the League, to be successful in the League and to join the Hall of Fame. We are working on that now.