ANAHEIM – Half an hour before tipoff, a line of fans snaked between sections 221 and 222, from the concourse level almost to the floor, where LaVar Ball posed for selfies.
“I will take them all day,” Ball said.
Magic Johnson sat courtside and signed autographs, front and smiling center among a sellout crowd of 18,000 at Honda Center. Nine seats down from him the man he replaced as president of basketball operation watched from under a trademark black cap.
Yes, the occasion was so momentous that it even lured Jim Buss out of exile.
Back in his seat across the court from the Lakers bench, in the fourth row next to his wife Tina, LaVar Ball declared, “Welcome to the Ball Era.”
The Lakers made their long-awaited season debut in a 108-99 exhibition loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, a game that gave fans – as well as Lakers executives and owners – their first look at rookie point guard Lonzo Ball, the hero of Chino Hills, as he stepped into the spotlight of Lakers stardom.
The second overall pick in June’s draft and the Most Valuable Player of the Las Vegas Summer League, Ball was the last starter introduced pregame and took the floor to a swell of cheers.
“That’s what you dream about as a kid,” Ball said. “It was finally here. That was a great moment, but now at the end of the day, now I have a job to do now I’ve got to come in here and keep doing it.”
The former UCLA star finished with 5 points in 22 minutes, stuffing the stat sheet with 8 assists and 7 rebounds.
“Lonzo is so gifted as far as the way he always makes everybody on the floor a threat,” coach Luke Walton said. “With him we’ve been working on, he’s so unselfish that sometimes he has good shots for himself and he tries to get someone else a shot. We want him taking those.”
Ball finished 2-for-9 from the field, but on the Lakers first possession, he naturally looked to pass. He and Larry Nance Jr., the Lakers best leaper, worked on alley-oops throughout training camp – “There’s been some fun ones,” Nance said – and Ball tried to open the exhibition season with a highlight play.
“I probably should have threw it a little higher,” Ball said of the play that was ultimately broken up. “I know that Larry can go up and get it.
By the time Ball made his first shot, a 3-pointer with 3:47 remaining in the first quarter, Honda Center erupted, releasing the excitement that had been pent up since the Lakers landed the No. 2 overall pick in the lottery way back in May.
Since then, Ball has been the subject of intense scrutiny, enhanced by Ball’s showman father LaVar’s ability to stay in the spotlight. A reality series debuted on Facebook over the summer. And Ball released not one, but two generations of his signature shoe.
“He seems to not let it really affect him,” coach Luke 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.”
The Lakers will continue their preseason schedule on Monday, when they host host Denver at Staples Center. Walton, who has stressed the Lakers need to play a fast pace to be successful, said his players “need to get in much better shape to play the way we want to play.”
“I felt like fatigue was a big factor,” he said.
Ball’s fellow rookie, Kyle Kuzma, led the Lakers with 19 points in 26 minutes off the bench. Selected 27th overall, the former University of Utah star shot 9-of-12 from the field.
Julius Randle scored 15 for the Lakers, Jordan Clarkson added 14 and Brandon Ingram finished with 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting.
Shabazz Muhammad, a Lakers target in free agency over the summer, led Minnesota with 22 points. Taj Gibson scored 18 points and Jimmy Butler, an All-Star in Chicago, finished with 10 points in his Timberwolves debut.
