Lakers' Ball to face Cavaliers' James for first time

"I'm going to say whatever I want to say, however I want to say it", Ball told ESPN.

"He's very tough to guard and he proved that tonight", said Ball, whose dad, LaVar, from courtside gave Ntilikina earfuls every time he passed by. But when that praise comes from James, that's a moment when a young player should probably be beaming.

A Lakers insider said the main message to Ball was that they've tried to keep their relationship positive, while still allowing him to speak his mind, and they'd prefer he did the same. His measured response is on par with how Ball responds to most situations in which he has to talk about himself. Six days later, an interview aired on Sirius XM in which Ball detailed his concerns with the way Lakers coach Luke Walton was playing Lonzo, including the fact that he should get more playing time in the fourth quarter.

Prior to Tuesday night's Lakers-Knicks game, Ball showed up to Madison Square Garden wearing a sweatshirt with his face on Nas' "It was Written" album. I had to force this issue on the high school, and when they finally got the picture, they went 35-0. "He's going to push the ball and he's going to throw it ahead and if we jog back, then they'll make us pay with a lot of their guys that love to run the floor - (Kentavious) Caldwell-Pope, (Kyle) Kuzma, Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and the rest of those guys". They visit LeBron James and Cleveland on Thursday, return home to host the defending champion Warriors on Monday, welcome NBA-leading Houston on December 20, and visit Golden State on December 22. He's young just like me playing in a big city and trying to find his way.

Ball, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft, has "a lot of pressure on him", Walton said, according to the New York Times. I just want to win.'"Listen, man, this guy is 20-something games into his pro career".

In the meantime, he doesn't have any big plans to quiz the four-time Most Valuable Player on what has made him great.

Cleveland has won six straight over the Lakers, the longest streak for the Cavs over L.A.in franchise history. I mean, I knew what I was going to become. "The way I score the ball and the way everyone else scores the ball, it would've been an easy win for us if I would have scored the basketball".

"I know how he is", Lonzo said of his father.

Ball, speaking to reporters in NY, shared a glowing opinion of James, whom he used to have a poster of in his childhood bedroom and owned both Miami Heat and Cavs jerseys of the guy he considered his favorite player.

When we were lining up for the anthem, I looked over at Frank and said, 'Are you ready to go?' He said, 'I'm ready.