Lakers rookie PG Ball may miss rest of preseason

Oct 8, 2017 - 9:30 PM The Los Angeles Lakers decided to keep rookie point guard Lonzo Ball out of Sunday night's preseason game against the Sacramento Kings to allow his sprained left ankle time to continue to heal.

Ball was to miss his second consecutive game after suffering the injury on Monday when he landed on Denver Nuggets point guard Emmanuel Mudiay's foot near the end of the first half of a preseason game.

There are questions as to whether the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft will return at all during the preseason. Lakers coach Luke Walton said Ball has had difficulty with his lateral movement and considers his status day to day.

The Lakers open the regular season on Oct. 19 against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Asked whether Ball might be held out until the regular season begins, Walton told the media, "I hope not, but yeah, that's a possibility. It is different with every player. He is new to the team, so we've got to see how long these types of injuries take him to come back from.

"We'd like to have him back, but again, we are not going to rush him back just to try to get him out there."

The ankle bothered Ball when he tried to practice on Saturday.

"It made no sense to try to have him play," Walton said. "If you can't run and jump, there's no reason to fight through that. We are just going to keep giving him treatment."

Also missing Sunday night's game was center Andrew Bogut with a groin strain.