Lonzo Ball (and the Other Lakers Starters) Got Benched, But His Rookie Season Looks A Lot Like Jason Kidd's

Lonzo Ball and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers starters got benched late in a home loss to the Toronto Raptors on Friday night. Luke Walton said it was because they weren’t getting back on defense, but they weren’t exactly setting the world on fire offensively either. Lonzo Ball struggled from the field yet again making just 2-of-7 field goal attempts and 1-of-4 three-pointers.

Ball is shooting just 31% from the field, 23% from 3 and 56% from the free throw line through five games. He’s averaging 10.2 points, but he’s also averaging 8.4 assists and 8.6 rebounds. He’s the first player to collect 50 points, 40 rebounds and 40 assists through his first five games which is pretty good. (LeBron James had 74 points, 33 assists and 38 rebounds in his first five games)

One person who came close to Lonzo’s numbers was Jason Kidd. The future Hall of Famer had 48 points, 40 assists and 36 rebounds in his first five games back in 1994. Their starts are eerily similar as Kidd averaged 9.6 points, 7.2 assists, 8 rebounds on 32% shooting through five games. He even shot a similar 20% from 3 (4/20). One place Kidd didn’t struggle was from the line where he made 12 of his first 15 free throws.

So basically Lakers fans can say that Ball is having a Hall of Fame-worthy start to his career. Still they might want to be concerned that 29 of his 51 points this season came in one game against the Phoenix Suns. His rebounding and assists are still impressive if you take out the Suns game, but he’s currently averaging 5.5 points against not-Phoenix.

Meanwhile, Markelle Fultz is averaging 6 points a game on 33% from the field without a working shooting arm. Of course, Fultz has yet to collect more than 3 rebounds or 3 assists in a single game. So not only is Lonzo Ball off to a Hall of Fame start, he’s better than the guy picked ahead of him in the draft. Finally, something to boast about.