The hits keep coming in Los Angeles where the Lakers announced earlier Saturday that Brandon Ingram would miss the rest of the season with a deep venous thrombosis in his right arm.
Per Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports and Shams Charania of The Athletic, it looks like Lonzo Ball is set to join him on the season shelf. Haynes first teased the potential announcement, pending the evaluation:
Lakers guard Lonzo Ball has a re-evaluation checkup on his ankle today and there’s strong suspicion he’ll also be ruled out the remainder of the season, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) March 9, 2019
Then, on into the evening, Charania dropped the update:
Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball has been shut down for the remainder of the season, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Ball had his left ankle re-evaluated by doctors today and sides agreed on course of action.
Ball, averaging 9.9 points (40.6 FG%, 32.9 3P%), 5.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 30.3 minutes through 47 games, suffered what was eventually diagnosed as a Grade 3 left ankle sprain on January 19 vs. the Rockets. The Lakers have been 5-13 since. As Charania notes, this early start on the offseason will provide ball a full summer to prep for the first time in three NBA seasons.
Following Saturday’s game against the Celtics, per team beat reporter Mike Trudell, the Lakers clarified Ball’s status:
From Lonzo Ball’s re-evaluation by the team medical staff: he continues to make good progress in recovery from the bone bruise related to his sprained ankle, and has been cleared for non-contact basketball activities. He’ll be re-evaluated in 2 weeks.
Two weeks is up March 25. Season ends April 10.
