As one of the better defensive point guards in the Western Conference, Lonzo Ball has been tasked with guarding some of the best offensive talent the league has to offer. It’s for that reason Ball teamed up with The Players’ Tribune to write a list of the five toughest players he’s guarded in his first two years in the NBA.
While some of the names like Kyrie Irving, James Harden and Kevin Durant, were obvious, others like DeMar DeRozan were less so. DeRozan is undoubtedly a talented offensive player, but he’s rarely ever in the “top-five” conversation. In context, though, DeRozan’s place on the list makes a ton of sense.
In his article, Ball talked about the first time he ever went against DeRozan during a summer run a few months before the start of his rookie season, and he said it’s a moment he’ll never forget:
He put like 40 on me that day. It was definitely my “Welcome to the NBA” moment. So out of all the guys in the league, I gotta respect Demar DeRozan, because he was the first one who showed me the level I needed to be at to compete in this league.
That’s something I’ll never forget.
Ball has played DeRozan five times since then. As a matter of fact, the Spurs were one of the few teams Ball played a full season against during his injury-riddled sophomore season.
Ball and the Pelicans won’t see DeRozan and the Spurs until January, so Ball has plenty of time to watch film and make sure DeRozan doesn’t light him up for 40 points again. Even if both teams are well outside of the playoff picture by then, someone will get to leave with bragging rights.
