Going into his third season in the NBA, Lonzo Ball is still just 21 years old, but he doesn’t want to treated like a young player anymore. Instead, Ball plans to be a veteran mentor to his younger teammates on the New Orleans Pelicans, particular this year’s No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson.
During his press conference at the Pelicans’ media day on Monday, Ball, the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, said he wants to use his experience to help Williamson navigate through his rookie season.
“I’m just here for him whenever he needs it. Everything he’s going to go through, I’ve already done, so. I’m with him with whole year — plane rides, bus rides, obviously games, on the court, off the court. I told him he can come to me for anything and I just want to be like a big brother to him,” Ball said.
However, Ball said he also understands that Williamson will also have to learn things by going through them the same way he did.
“I mean, everybody has to find their own way at the end of the day, but for me, just being a guy like Zion that’s picked first has all the media attention on him, I can get his ear and tell him that it’s a long year — don’t get too high, don’t get too low. And just me being in the league the last two years, I have knowledge that he doesn’t have because he wasn’t in the league before, so anything I can do to help, that’s what I’m hear for,” Ball said.
Williamson will also be able to pick the brains of Brandon Ingram and Derrick Favors, who were top-three picks in their respective drafts. Suffice to say, if Williamson’s rookie season doesn’t go as planned, it won’t be because he didn’t have the right veterans in the locker room.
