Lonzo Ball has looked more confident shooting the ball during his time with the New Orleans Pelicans — perhaps a little too confident.
During the team’s preseason opener against the Toronto Raptors on Monday, Ball attempted a one-legged step back 3-pointer, a shot popularized by Houston Rockets guard James Harden over the summer.
Ball has been surprisingly efficient on step back jumpers in his career — dating back to his days at UCLA — but one-legged step back jumpers might be out of his wheelhouse.
The good news is that aside from that attempt, Ball shot well from behind the arc in his regular season debut with the Pelicans, making two of his three 3-point attempts. For his career, Ball is a 31.5 percent shooter from 3-point range on 5.3 attempts per game.
If Ball is knocking his 3-point jumpers down with consistency, playing defense at a high level and making plays for his teammates, it’s going to be hard for head coach Alvin Gentry to keep him off of the floor.
