Lonzo Ball returns to practice for his most extensive workout since spraining his left ankle
When the injury first happened, Lonzo Ball assumed his sprained left ankle was no big deal.
But on Oct. 3, he awoke to swelling that told him otherwise.
“It got fat and that is what set me back a little bit,” Ball said.
Ball is questionable for the Lakers’ preseason finale against the Clippers on Friday. He went through practice on Thursday, doing the most extensive work he had done since suffering the injury.
“A lot of it will depend on how he feels when he wakes up,” Lakers coach Luke Walton said. “I’m sure he’s going to be sore later today. We’ll see if there’s any swelling in the morning. … He looked early on like he was favoring it a little bit and then as he kind of relaxed and started playing, it really looked like he started to move a lot better.”
Ball participated in all of Thursday’s workouts except five-on-five drills toward the end of practice. If Ball’s ankle feels well enough Friday morning, Walton will put him through a scrimmage after the shootaround.
Ball played in the Lakers’ first two preseason games, but he injured the ankleon Oct. 2 against the Denver Nuggets after blocking a shot by Nuggets guard Emmanuel Mudiay. Ball came down awkwardly on Mudiay’s ankle.
Ball returned to the game after the injury, hoping that would help the healing process.
Ball worked with Lakers assistant coach Miles Simon before Tuesday’s game at Staples Center.
“That was the first time I got on the court since I got hurt, so [I] really didn’t take it hard at all,” Ball said. “It was pretty light. Just little movements here and there so it really didn’t affect me the next day and [I] came back and got my treatment and everything was cool.”
He had a light workout again before Wednesday’s practice, but didn’t participate in that session.
Under different circumstances, Ball might have pushed his return.
“My dad has coached me my whole life. so you know it is not really being hurt with him,” Ball said. “So I usually push it. Now it is a little different. It is my job and stuff and we took preseason into account and I am trying to get 100% and get out there.”
Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli
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