Lonzo Ball’s time inside the bubble has not been a pleasant one for either him personally or the New Orleans Pelicans as a team. Sunday’s loss against the San Antonio Spurs effectively eliminated the Pelicans from playoff contention. In the contest, Ball shot just 2-of-10 from the field and 0-of-4 from beyond the arc, tallying five points, though he did add 10 assists and five rebounds.
After the contest, Bleacher Report sent out a tweet with Ball’s averages inside the bubble along with his underwhelming shooting percentages. In the six bubble games, he is averaging 5.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.8 assists and shooting 26% from the field and 19% from the three-point arc.
Ball, who was playing as well as any player in the league prior to the lockdown, was quick to make note of the tweet. Ball quote-tweeted his stats, added his own comments and included the hashtag #TMC, likely standing for The Marathon Continues which is a nod to a Nipsey Hussle mixtape.
[Warning: expletive language]
Ball is one of many players across the league that has struggled inside the bubble. Given the unique nature of the NBA’s restart from the quick turnaround, the abbreviated preseason, the unfamiliar arena or the bubble itself, it’s hard to fault Ball or any other player for struggling.
To give Bleacher Report some credit, they did send a tweet prior to the lockdown that acknowledged Ball’s improvement as a three-point shooter roughly a week before the season came to a halt.
The tweet also serves as a sort of promise from Ball that he will turn things around next season. The larger sample size of his play before the bubble would indicate he turned a corner this season. Even with his poor play over the last six games, Ball is shooting 37% from three-point territory, a career-high, while averaging a career-best 11.8 points per game.
