Despite signing LeBron James last summer, the Los Angeles Lakers were unable to snap their six-season playoff drought. While a lot of that had to do with the way roster was constructed, injuries also played a big role — specifically the injuries Lonzo Ball and LeBron James suffered.
Combined, Ball and James missed 62 games for the Lakers. Of the 102 combined games they played last season, they only appeared in 34 games and in those games the Lakers went 20-14.
It’s for that reason former Defensive Players of the Year and NBA champion Metta World Peace told ESPN LA’s “Mason and Ireland” that he believes the Lakers would have made the playoffs if they didn’t have such bad injury luck this past season. However, he also made a pretty bold statement about the significance of Ball’s injury specifically:
I feel like Lonzo is needed. I feel like I don’t want him getting injured next season. If Lonzo’s not injured, we are in the playoffs. That’s not discrediting LeBron — LeBron got injured also — but when Lonzo got hurt I was like, ‘Man, he moves that ball.’ And he makes mistakes, yes, like anybody — any young player – but we need Lonzo. I need Lonzo healthy.
In the 35 games the Lakers played without Ball, they went 12-23 and allowed 112.4 points per 100 possessions, which was among the bottom-10 in the league during that stretch. Prior to Ball’s injury, the Lakers had the seventh-best defensive rating in the NBA.
Was Ball’s injury more detrimental to the Lakers than James’ injury? Maybe not, but there’s no denying his absence had a serious impact on the team.
