But this is more than just basketball for Ball. At 27 years old, it\u2019s a revival born out of pain, patience and perspective.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/G4ETVIC7DVD2TCMSPGTJOTOSJI.jpg\"\/)
Lonzo Ball then of the Los Angeles Lakers dunks the ball while his father LaVar Ball, mother Tina Ball and brother LaMelo Ball watch on.Getty ImagesWhat survives the fire is stronger than what enters it<\/p>\n
Cleveland will see a player transformed by the technical lessons of the NBA and by the crucible of life itself. The cartilage transplant wasn\u2019t just a medical marvel; it was a test of patience, discipline, and mental endurance.<\/p>\n
And it was his family\u2019s stern but impactful early teachings that helped carry him through.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of thanks got to go to my parents just for instilling that mindset in me early as a kid,\u201d Ball said. \u201cKind of like a no-complain, just-get-it-done mentality. I felt like that stuck with me throughout my life, and I think that was a big reason for me getting back on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trials his parents endured, including his mother Tina\u2019s stroke in 2017 and his father\u2019s recent health issues \u2014 resulting in an amputated right foot \u2014 offered a daily reminder of resilience. They shaped a player who approaches setbacks with grace.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing that was so impressive to me was his ability to take whatever\u2019s being thrown at him and not be fazed one bit,\u201d Bulls coach Billy Donovan said of Ball. \u201cIt was like, \u2018OK, what is it? What\u2019s next?\u2019 And that\u2019s just the way he always is. I\u2019ve never seen his demeanor change. … It was one of the most impressive things I\u2019ve ever witnessed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think because he\u2019s so cerebral in the game, he\u2019s never rattled because he\u2019s so smart. Like, he knows all the answers to the test. So when you watch him play, there\u2019s a great calmness to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to mistake LaVar\u2019s bluster for Lonzo\u2019s personality, but the son has always been the quiet constant amid the storm \u2014 a steady worker who let his game speak louder than the headlines, working through any situation without faltering.<\/p>\n
![\"LaVar](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/TLNCIJAOPJAWBMHNB4G7V23TQY.jpg\"\/)
Lonzo, LiAngelo, and LaMelo grew up under a father who built them in his image: disciplined, fearless, unshaken by noise. Outsiders called it overbearing. Inside the family, it was preparation and all a part of the plan: to raise sons who could thrive under pressure.Getty Images<\/p>\n
Even as a teenager thrust into the national spotlight at California\u2019s Chino Hills High School \u2014 where his younger brothers LiAngelo and LaMelo also played \u2014 he learned how to balance attention and expectation.<\/p>\n
LaVar\u2019s intense, hands-on training regime began when Lonzo was just 10 months old, part of a meticulously planned strategy to craft NBA-ready athletes. <\/p>\n
It was rigorous, sometimes grueling, and often misunderstood by outsiders. But it instilled a work ethic and mental toughness that would carry him through collegiate stardom at UCLA, into the NBA draft, and now perhaps the most defining stretch of his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe. I don\u2019t talk to a lot of people, so it\u2019s easy to look at something from the outside looking in and form your own opinion on it,\u201d Ball said about being misunderstood. \u201cBut for the people that have known me and grew up with me and rocked with me from Day 1, they all know that I\u2019ve pretty much been the same kid.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe gotta realize that this is still a game at the end of the day. So whatever people see, you know, on TV for that hour, that two hours is not really necessarily what the whole picture is.\u201d<\/p>\n
The missing piece that makes it all make sense<\/p>\n
Now, after his first offseason without having to fully rehab an injury, Ball is set for another Day 1. This time, it\u2019s in a city that mirrors his story: resilient and ready to rise again.<\/p>\n
And while the roster may be better than any other he\u2019s been a part of, the 6-foot-6 point guard\u2019s game might be the one that makes it whole.<\/p>\n
\u201cLonzo makes other people better. He knows how to use guys,\u201d Atkinson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of those guys, he\u2019s coaching guys out there, he\u2019s telling them what he wants and that helps, especially role players … but he\u2019s kind of a guy that will command the game and give guys little hints. I can see that on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Lonzo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6QWFWP2AEBGPTPDWBYP7AYDXBE.jpg\"\/)
With two defenders guarding him, Lonzo Ball isn’t looking to score. Instead, he’s reading the play, finding the open man and creating the easiest look for the Cavs each time down the floor.John Kuntz, cleveland.com<\/p>\n
Cleveland has spent three seasons searching for an organizer. <\/p>\n
Darius Garland, who will start the season recovering from offseason toe surgery, is an exquisite scorer and playmaker, but he\u2019s also a rhythm player. He needs touches, movement and tempo to dictate the game. <\/p>\n
Donovan Mitchell is an elite shot-maker who thrives when the Cavs need him to seek out a bucket. <\/p>\n
Ball can be the connective tissue between them. He sees the geometry of the floor before anyone else does and, more importantly, reacts to it without hesitation. His reads turn possessions into systems, and systems into flow.<\/p>\n
For now, the Cavs will keep him limited<\/a>, seeing how he can impact the game in spurts. He\u2019ll sit out during back-to-back games, and his minutes will hover around 20 a night through most of the regular season. But when springtime rolls around, his workload could gradually increase, giving the Cavs the chance to gauge whether his body can hold up under postseason pressure.<\/p>\n Ball\u2019s fit in Atkinson\u2019s offense is almost surgical. His instinct to advance the ball early in the clock is an immediate counter to Cleveland\u2019s occasional stagnation. <\/p>\n Although the Cavs\u2019 offense played at a historic rate last season, Atkinson believes they can push it even further with Ball\u2019s IQ, vision and execution.<\/a><\/p>\n Atkinson has called Ball \u201ca risk taker,\u201d and that\u2019s true. His passes flirt with turnovers. But that controlled chaos is precisely what Cleveland needs. <\/p>\n Ball\u2019s arrival encourages aggression by example. When he\u2019s throwing laser outlets to shooters the second he rebounds the ball, it pushes everyone to run harder and trust the system.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s his defense. <\/p>\n Ball\u2019s size allows him to take the primary assignment on wings that Mitchell or Garland can\u2019t handle physically. He\u2019s the rare guard who can toggle between point-of-attack defender and free-safety disruptor, giving the Cavs the ability to hide their smaller guards without compromising structure. <\/p>\n When he\u2019s on the floor, Cleveland can finally switch one through four comfortably.<\/p>\n The acquisition was a calculated risk<\/a>. The front office knows the trade only pays off if he looks like himself in April, May and June. The early-season limits are both precautionary and strategic \u2014 a long game with championship stakes.<\/p>\n But if this works, Ball and the Cavs will both get what they bargained for.<\/p>\n Ball was asked how he will want to be remembered for this new chapter in Cleveland.<\/p>\n \u201cJust that, \u2018He\u2019s a winner.\u2019 That\u2019s really all I\u2019m focused on this year,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t really have many other goals besides to win a championship, so that\u2019s what I\u2019m playing for. I think everybody knows that\u2019s what I came here to help do. That\u2019s my path, and that\u2019s how I want to be written when it\u2019s all said and done.\u201d<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2014 Lonzo Ball stands on the cusp of a career chapter that might finally define him.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,726,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-232167","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Lonzo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2SJ4IDM6GFFTXLWZVDKNESHC6I.jpg\"\/)
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Lonzo Ball corrals a loose ball after a defensive stop against Chicago Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu.John Kuntz, cleveland.com<\/p>\n