Eric Christian Smith/Associated Press Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball's season is reportedly over. Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported Saturday that Ball was receiving a re-evaluation of an ankle injury that has kept him sidelined since Jan. 19. Per Haynes, "there's strong suspicion he'll also be ruled out the remainder of the season" following the checkup. Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium later reported Ball had been shut down after meeting with doctors and the Lakers following his re-evaluation. Everyone agreed this was the best course of action "to regain complete health and come into the offseason ready for on-court and body training." Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times reported Friday that Ball has a Grade 3 left ankle sprain with a torn ligament. He is also dealing with a bone bruise. Ball, 21, has had injury issues in his first two seasons. A knee injury limited him to 52 games during his rookie season, while he twice sprained his left ankle this season and was forced to miss time. When Ball has been on the court, he's shown flashes, though he remains a work in progress. This season he's averaging 9.9 points, 5.4 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game, though he's shooting just 40.6 percent from the field, 32.9 percent from three and an atrocious 41.7 percent from the charity stripe, an inexcusable number for a guard. Video Play Button Videos you might like He's also had to adjust to life with LeBron James, who often handles the facilitating duties in L.A.'s half-court offense. The Lakers' young players have adapted differently. Brandon Ingram, who is also out injured, has struggled to find his ideal role. Kyle Kuzma has played well. Josh Hart has been buried in the team's rotation. Ball has been a nice role player when he's been healthy, though he's yet to emerge as the star-in-the-making he was selected No. 2 overall in the 2017 NBA draft to be. That leaves open the possibility that some of those young players, or all, could eventually be traded for a superstar player to pair with James. Expect Rajon Rondo and Hart to maintain significant roles in the Lakers offense with Ball out.<doc-sep>Jeff Haynes/Getty Images Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball has endured a trying second-year NBA campaign that included a season-ending ankle sprain and a daily spot in trade rumors in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline. Ball addressed his recovery from an ankle injury and those rumors in an interview with Shams Charania of The Athletic. "I'm very, very motivated," Ball told Charania. "I want to be the best I can be. I'm looking forward to this summer. I don't look at it as added pressure, because I haven't had a full summer yet to dedicate to myself. I have to keep working on my craft. I'm just happy that I'm going to be healthy. "It's been frustrating. This is the second year that [a season-ending injury] has happened. But I have to stay positive, stay motivated." Ball also didn't seem too worried about where he'll playing starting next fall. "At the end of the day, you can only control the things that you can control," Ball told Charania. "If I get traded, then I get traded. But I'm going to be ready to go. The goal is to be the best player I can for whichever team." Video Play Button Videos you might like The primary concern is Ball getting back to full health and playing an 82-game season (or close to it). As Charania noted, Ball was enjoying a mini-breakout in the days leading to his season-ending ankle sprain on Jan. 19, averaging 13.0 points, 8.1 assists, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals in seven games. The ex-UCLA floor general also posted a 16-point triple-double against the Charlotte Hornets on Dec. 15. But injuries have hindered Ball's progress. He sat 30 contests with knee and shoulder ailments during his rookie year and will finish this season missing 35 more. The silver lining is that Ball will be able to do far more during his summer conditioning program this year. The point guard underwent knee surgery last July. "Obviously, improving everything on the basketball court: my shooting, finishing," Ball said regarding what he'll be working on this summer. "But for my body, working on my legs, and make sure they're strong and ready. I didn't get to do any leg work last summer. This is going to be a new summer, most definitely." Ball finished his second NBA season with 9.9 points on 40.6 percent shooting, 5.4 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.<doc-sep>Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball has been dealing with a bone bruise in his sprained left ankle that the team believes could extend his recovery past six weeks, according to two people familiar with Ball’s condition. Ball severely sprained his ankle on Jan. 19 in the third quarter of the Lakers’ loss to the Houston Rockets. He had to be carried off the court by two teammates. While Ball initially thought he broke his ankle, an X-ray taken at a nearby hospital confirmed there was no fracture. An MRI the next day showed a fully torn ligament, which indicated a Grade 3 sprain. Ball moved quickly through the early stages of his rehab. He used crutches for about a week and wore a protective boot on his left ankle for less time than that. Advertisement Ball began running on an underwater treadmill two weeks ago and last week he began work on an antigravity treadmill, but was limited because of the bone bruise. Ball has missed 11 games and the Lakers have struggled defensively without him. In games they were partially or fully without Ball, the Lakers have given up an average of 123 points per game. Their defensive rating plummeted in Ball’s absence. Thursday’s game against the Houston Rockets represented the best defense the Lakers had played since his injury. Sign up for our Lakers newsletter » “We are still missing a key piece of our unit in Zo, which we’ve missed a lot,” LeBron James said before Thursday’s game. “But we are definitely together and we look forward to seeing what we are capable of.” Ball spent the offseason increasing his strength, especially in his upper body, as he worked to recover from offseason knee surgery and had become one of the Lakers’ best all-around players. tania.ganguli@latimes.com Twitter: @taniaganguli<doc-sep>
Lonzo Ball didn’t resist the Lakers’ decision Saturday to end his season. He figured it was coming, given how long his ankle is taking to heal. “It’s just the situation I’m in right now,” Ball said before Tuesday’s game, speaking for the first time since being sidelined for the season. “So I have no problem with it.” Ball said he’d be traveling with the team and would also “be around here, do whatever I can off the court to help.” The initial injury that sidelined Ball during the third quarter of the Jan. 19 game against the Houston Rockets looked and felt so gruesome at first that he and others worried he had broken the ankle. He hadn’t. That bit of good news was confirmed before the game ended. But it was plenty bad. How bad, Ball wouldn’t know for weeks. An MRI exam the day after the injury revealed Ball had a Grade 3 ankle sprain, which includes a torn ligament. At the time, the Lakers said the injury would be a four-to-six-week injury. But what has extended his absence even more is a bone bruise in the ankle. “They said the MRI, the first one, I got it so soon that [the bone bruise] didn’t show up,” Ball said. “Second one, it was there.” Two weeks after the injury, Ball began running on an underwater treadmill. It was at that point that he realized something wasn’t right. “I sprained my ankle on the outside, but I kept feeling the pain on the inside,” Ball said. “Right when I started running.” The injury happened at a particularly frustrating time for Ball, who had been playing well in the games leading up to it. “I thought it was up and down,” Ball said of his second season. “Trying to find my stride, if you will, the last five games before I got hurt.” This is the second year Ball has had his season cut short by injury. He sat out 30 games during his rookie season because of knee and shoulder injuries. A summer surgery cut into his offseason. The hope is that this year Ball will finally have a full offseason to work on his game. “I haven’t had it since I’ve been in the league,” Ball said, “so I think it’ll help me a lot.” LAKERS UP NEXT AT TORONTO When: Thursday, 5 p.m. PDT On Air: TV: Spectrum SportsNet, TNT. Radio: 710, 1330 Update: The Lakers listed Lance Stephenson (toe sprain), Tyson Chandler (neck stiffness) and Josh Hart (knee tendinitis) as questionable. Kyle Kuzma is healthy enough that he is off the injury report. Toronto has the second-best record in the Eastern Conference and has won six of its last 10 games. tania.ganguli@latimes.com Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli