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Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball will miss Monday’s Las Vegas Summer League game against the Sacramento Kings.
According to USA Today‘s Sam Amick, Ball is suffering from a sore groin. ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelburne confirmed Ball will be absent from the game.
Amick reported the injury doesn’t appear to be serious and that the Lakers are opting to be cautious with the No. 2 overall pick.
Ball’s injury will prevent fans from seeing a rematch between he and Kings rookie De’Aaron Fox. The pair faced off in the Sweet 16 of the 2017 NCAA tournament, and Fox scored 39 points as the Kentucky Wildcats earned an 86-75 victory over the UCLA Bruins. Ball finished with 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting and committed four turnovers.
Fox appeared to allude to Ball’s injury in a since-deleted tweet, which the Los Angeles Times‘ Tania Ganguli shared:
Tania Ganguli @taniaganguli
De’Aaron Fox’s since-deleted tweet, presumably in reference to no rematch with Ball. https://t.co/tnHVfOxAAw
Ball had a lackluster summer-league debut, shooting 2-of-15, including 1-of-11 from beyond the arc, in the Lakers’ 96-93 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.
While the Lakers lost 86-81 to the Boston Celtics in their next game Saturday, Ball finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. According to the NBA’s Twitter account, it was the first triple-double in the Las Vegas Summer League since the league began regularly tracking stats in 2008.
Lonzo Ball Reportedly Has Groin Injury, Will Not Play vs. Kings in Summer League – Bleacher Report