ANAHEIM, Calif._After a summer filled with drama on and off the court, basketball served as a unifier for the Los Angeles Lakers organization.
Lonzo Ball's preseason debut, specifically.
There was Jim Buss, who hasn't made a public appearance with the Lakers since being fired as the team's executive vice president, then joining his brother Johnny to try and oust Jeanie Buss as the team's controlling owner.
There was Magic Johnson, whose role as president of basketball operations took over the one Jim vacated, sitting eight seats away from Jim.
There was Jeanie Buss, making a rare preseason appearance, and a rare appearance at a game away from Staples Center at all.
There was general manager Rob Pelinka, eager to see the team's dress rehearsal.
There were 18,000 fans, including 20,000 from Chino, according to its loudest resident _ LaVar Ball.
And at halftime, sitting near midcourt, LaVar, stretched out his arms and declared, "Welcome to the Ball era."
That the Lakers lost to the Timberwolves 108-99 hardly mattered. With a training camp that lasted only four days and seven practices, the Lakers hadn't come close to installing their system yet _ they'd done no work yet on their half-court offense. Luke Walton expected a sloppy game from his team and he got it.
But this was the first time the Lakers got to see Lonzo Ball face NBA veterans _ he began the game guarding Minnesota's Jeff Teague _ and got to see how the point guard they expect to lead them into the future could perform.
"With him, probably the thing, he's going to play the game the way, in my opinion, it's supposed to be played," Lakers Coach Luke Walton said before the game.
"I don't have any concern with that. I'm more interested to see how he does defensively, is he going to get into foul trouble, I'm sure they're going to try to be aggressive, pick him up, like NBA players do to most rookies and see how he responds to all that. But more it will just be good, really good to get some video and film and watch him live against NBA players."
Ball's first pass was an attempted lob to Larry Nance Jr. His first assist went to Lakers forward Brandon Ingram, the player with whom Johnson said he expects a Magic Johnson-James Worthy connection.
With 3:48 left in the first quarter, Ball drained his first bucket of the game, a three-pointer that caused the crowd to erupt.
Kyle Kuzma stole the show, making nine of 12 field goal attempts and scoring 19 points. Julius Randle added 15 points and Jordan Clarkson scored 14, making six of 10 field goal attempts. Ball finished with five points, seven rebounds and eight assists, three turnovers and two steals.
As the days pass, the Lakers will keep an eye on how the attention affects Ball. Just a week into the start of their process, they're liking what they see.
"He's been great, he seems to not let it really affect him," Walton said. "It's pretty impressive for a guy his age that has the whole world talking about him all the time. Everywhere we go he's getting swarmed like an All-Star already.
"He seems to handle it in stride and not let it get to him, at latest from what we've seen. What we saw in summer league, obviously, and the way that he comes in and works every day with his teammates so he's been great."
