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<\/p>\nLonzo Ball remains out of contract heading into a fresh NBA season.<\/p>\n
LaMelo Ball has been traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.<\/p>\n
LiAngelo Ball is out of the NBA altogether.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Watch every NBL game LIVE with ESPN, available on Kayo | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n It is a very different picture to what many imagined almost a decade ago.<\/p>\n Brothers Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo were supposed to take over the NBA.<\/p>\n They had the talent, the loud father, their own Big Baller Brand and enough attention surrounding them that the family became viewed as the \u2018Kardashians\u2019 of the basketball world.<\/p>\n At one point, their father LaVar Ball even dreamed of all three of his sons playing together for the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n Almost a decade later, only one remains in the NBA.<\/p>\n So, what happened to the Ball empire?<\/p>\n HIGH SCHOOL PHENOMS<\/p>\n It all really exploded at Chino Hills.<\/p>\n Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo took over the internet while playing high school basketball, with the three brothers sharing the court during Lonzo\u2019s senior season.<\/p>\n They led Chino Hills to a perfect 35-0 record and a state championship in 2016 before Lonzo departed for UCLA.<\/p>\n The hype followed him.<\/p>\n Lonzo starred for the Bruins, averaging 14.6 points, a nation-leading 7.6 assists and six rebounds in 35.1 minutes per game.<\/p>\n Suddenly, the eldest Ball brother wasn\u2019t just an internet sensation.<\/p>\n The Ball brothers were once among the most talked-about young basketballers in America.Source: AFP<\/p>\n He was one of the best prospects in basketball and of course, LaVar made sure everyone knew about it.<\/p>\n Speaking recently on the Curious Mike Podcast, hosted by Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr., Lonzo admitted he believes his father\u2019s media circus in the lead-up to the 2017 NBA Draft made it almost impossible for the Lakers not to select him.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he had a huge influence on it, bro,\u201d Ball said.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest\u2026 I think he damn near made it to where they had to pick me.<\/p>\n \u201cReally, to a point, I really do feel like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking back on those early years, Lonzo also admitted he wished he had taken more control of his own career rather than simply following his father\u2019s lead.<\/p>\n \u201cI literally was just hooping and following my pops, listening to my pops,\u201d Ball said.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just doing what I was told really. I guess that would be my one regret, like taking control of my career earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n LeBron James: 76ers Press Conference | 18:02<\/p>\n Lonzo was already considered one of the best players in a loaded draft class featuring the likes of Jayson Tatum, De\u2019Aaron Fox, Donovan Mitchell and Bam Adebayo.<\/p>\n LaVar made sure the entire basketball world knew exactly who his son was, and he wasn\u2019t exactly subtle about it.<\/p>\n Before the draft, LaVar claimed Lonzo could have the same impact on the Lakers as Magic Johnson.<\/p>\n \u201cLonzo (would) have that same impact Magic (Johnson) had. I\u2019m trying to tell you. Same impact,\u201d LaVar told Stephen A. Smith on ESPN\u2019s First Take.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019ll be better than Magic, how\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n He wasn\u2019t finished there.<\/p>\n \u201cLonzo is Magic with a jump shot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I mean by that is everybody wants to play with him.<\/p>\n \u201cThe winning, the running, the long passes.<\/p>\n Lonzo Ball was selected second overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2017 NBA Draft.Source: AFP<\/p>\n \u201cThey tried to compare him to Jason Kidd, but if you look at it he\u2019s more like Penny Hardaway (with his) size, length, style.\u201d<\/p>\n The Lakers eventually did exactly what LaVar had spent months telling everyone they should do, selecting Lonzo with the second overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n If there wasn\u2019t already enough pressure on the hometown kid, Magic Johnson added some more.<\/p>\n At Lonzo\u2019s introductory press conference, Johnson pointed towards the retireeven Magic himself, d jerseys hanging on the wall of the Lakers\u2019 training facility.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to put a little pressure on you right now,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou look to your right, there\u2019s some jerseys hanging on that wall.<\/p>\n \u201cWe expect a Ball jersey hanging up there one day, all right? Good.\u201d<\/p>\n The high school phenom whose loudmouth father had made sure the entire basketball world knew the Ball name was now being described as the new face of one of the biggest franchises in world sport.<\/p>\n READ MORE<\/p>\n BEN SIMMONS: Simmons act set to \u2018heal\u2019 Boomers dream as NBA insider reveals Aussie camp that \u2018saved career\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n NBA TIERS: LeBron\u2019s new superteam reality, fallen giants and Aussie intrigue \u2014 Every NBA team ranked<\/a><\/p>\n THE NBA JOURNEY BEGINS\u2026<\/p>\n Initially, the hype only grew.<\/p>\n Lonzo was named NBA Summer League MVP after averaging 16.3 points, 9.3 assists, 7.7 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game.<\/p>\n He recorded two triple-doubles and looked every bit like the player Lakers fans had spent months hearing about.<\/p>\n His rookie season, however, provided the first glimpse of what would eventually become one of the biggest issues of his career.<\/p>\n Staying on the court.<\/p>\n Injuries have played a major role in Lonzo Ball\u2019s NBA career.Source: AFP<\/p>\n Lonzo played just 52 games as a rookie, missing 30 with shoulder and knee injuries.<\/p>\n By his second season, everything around him had changed.<\/p>\n The Lakers went out and signed LeBron James.<\/p>\n The franchise that had effectively handed Lonzo the keys were suddenly operating on an entirely different timeline.<\/p>\n There were still glimpses of what could have been.<\/p>\n Ball and James became the first Lakers teammates since Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1982 to both record triple-doubles in the same game.<\/p>\n But when you are the Lakers and you have LeBron James, waiting around isn\u2019t really an option.<\/p>\n Following the 2018-19 season, Lonzo was packaged alongside Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and draft capital in the blockbuster trade which brought Anthony Davis to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n Just two years after being selected as the hometown kid who could one day have his jersey hanging from the rafters, Lonzo was gone.<\/p>\n Lonzo Ball was once viewed as one of the NBA\u2019s most exciting young point guards.Source: AFP<\/p>\n He spent the next two seasons in New Orleans rebuilding his reputation, improving a jump shot which had been heavily criticised and reminding everyone why he had been taken with the No.2 pick.<\/p>\n Chicago was his next stop and for a brief period, it looked like Lonzo had finally found a home.<\/p>\n Once again, his body had other ideas.<\/p>\n A serious knee issue derailed his time with the Bulls and kept him away from NBA basketball for more than two years.<\/p>\n He eventually made his return, later spending time with the Cleveland Cavaliers before being traded to the Utah Jazz and waived following last season.<\/p>\n Now, the former No.2 overall pick who was once supposed to help lead the Lakers back to the top remains without an NBA contract.<\/p>\n READ MORE<\/p>\n AUSSIES IN THE NBA: Insider\u2019s \u2018crazy\u2019 Simmons claim; \u2018baffling\u2019 snub on $100m star<\/a><\/p>\n