Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball recently confirmed, during a podcast episode with Trae Young, that he will miss the entire 2023-24 season as he continues rehabilitation from a long-term knee injury. Ball has spoken extensively about feeling bad for the Bulls and other aspects of his recovery, with basketball observers far and wide continuing to root for his progress. However, a subplot emerged when Ball blasted back at ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and told him to “stop yapping” after Smith reported on First Take that Ball has trouble standing up from a seated position — doing so in a video in which he proved he has no issue standing up on his injured leg.
That back and forth garnered a great deal of attention, with Smith adding fuel to the fire on subsequent appearances on First Take and his podcast, but K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago brings more context from Ball and his issues with the way Smith reported on the story. In an encouraging development, Johnson cited Ball saying “I’m going to play again” during remarks at an event in Atlanta, and he also shares Ball’s comments on Smith.
“The outside noise doesn’t bother me,” Ball said. “The Stephen A. thing, he has a wide platform. And to me, I just don’t appreciate when people put out fake news like that, especially someone of his stature that can touch a lot of people.”
The use of “fake news” will likely produce some reaction, but Ball’s point on Smith’s reaction is quite accurate. It would have to be grating on Ball, particularly in the midst of a lengthy recovery, to hear something that he knew to be false repeated by arguably the biggest name in day-to-day sports media matters, and the exchange very likely produced a level of attention on Ball that he didn’t necessarily appreciate.