Shawn Marion is an NBA champion who made the All-Star game four times and led the league in steals twice over the course of his 16-year career. He is also part-owner of the NBL’s New Zealand Breakers and, as a result, he’s seen LaMelo Ball play a good amount this year.
The Breakers, headlined by projected lottery pick RJ Hampton, played Ball’s Illawarra Hawks earlier this year and beat them 103-72. Ball didn’t stuff the box score like he has in more recent games, but he still showed enough to leave Marion impressed.
In a recent interview on “The Full 48 with Howard Beck,” Marion praised Ball’s unique combination of size, speed and playmaking ability, and made a bold prediction about the 18-year-old point guard’s NBA future:
“There ain’t many guys that have that ability … LaMelo, the way he passes the ball and as big as he is, he has the ability to come in and average a triple-double. I’m not saying he’s going to average 20-something-points per game, but he can probably do 10, 10 and 10, you know what I’ms saying? With no problem.
“We saying it like it’s easy — it’s not easy. But you can see the potential in him and what he has because of his ability.”
To say “it’s not easy” is a gross understatement. Only two players — Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson — have averaged a triple-double over the course of the 82-game regular season. Ball is talented, for sure, but he’s shown nothing to suggest he’s at the level of a top-20 all-time point guard.
However, it’s not hard to imagine Ball getting close to averaging a triple-double. After all, his oldest brother Lonzo averaged 10.2 points, 7.2 assists and 6.9 rebounds in his rookie season. If LaMelo is truly better than Lonzo, he’ll be able to match those averages in his rookie season.
Unfortunately, LaMelo will have to wait another year to prove Marion right. Until then, he’ll continue to fill up the box score with the Hawks in the NBL.
