Ball–Fox rivalry
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The "Ball–Fox rivalry" (or the "Fox–Ball rivalry") is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between point guards Lonzo Ball of the Los Angeles Lakers and De'Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings. Although they were both top players in their high school years, their rivalry emerged following their two meetings at college as top NBA draft prospects, with Ball and Fox playing at UCLA and Kentucky respectively. Their relationship has continued to receive media attention into their NBA careers, with Ball repeatedly missing games against Fox's team. It has been described as one of the biggest budding rivalries in the NBA.[1]
Background[edit]
Ball played high school basketball for Chino Hills High School in Chino Hills, California, where he became one of the their best players in his final two seasons. Only as a sophomore, he had committed to play for UCLA at the college level. In his junior year in 2014–15, Ball averaged 25 points, 11 rebounds, 9.1 assists, 5 blocks, and 5 steals per game, and Rivals.com ranked him as the eighth best player in his class.[2] In his senior season, Ball averaged 24 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, leading Chino Hills to a 35–0 record and a No. 1 ranking by USA Today.[3] His postseason accolades included the Naismith Prep Player of the Year Award, and ESPN ranked him as the fourth-best player and best point guard in his class.[4][5]
Fox competed with Cypress Lakes High School in Cypress, Texas during his high school career, immediately making an impact. In his junior season at Cypress Lakes, he averaged 22 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks.[6] After his senior year, in which he averaged 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists, Fox earned a series of prestigious awards, including Gatorade Texas Boys' Basketball Player of the Year.[6][7] He was ranked by ESPN as the sixth-best player in his class and the top point guard behind Ball.[5] In November 2015, he committed to Kentucky.[8]
Although both Ball and Fox were top basketball players in the same class, their high school teams would never meet. When both of them were sophomores, they crossed paths at the 2014 Pangos All-American Camp.[9] The pair also played against each other at the 2016 McDonald's All-American Boys Game, at which Ball recorded a game-high 13 assists.[10][11]
Rivalry[edit]
College[edit]
Fox and Kentucky, ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time, lost to Ball and No. 11 UCLA in their first meeting of the 2016–17 season on December 4, 2016.[12] In 34 minutes, Fox recorded 20 points, nine assists, two rebounds, and two turnovers, while Ball had 14 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and six turnovers with four more minutes of playing time.[13] Bleacher Report labeled their matchup as "must-see TV," while CBS Sports remarked that Fox had the better game of the two despite taking the loss.[14][13]
The teams met again at the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in the Sweet 16 round, with Kentucky winning 86–75 behind a 39-point game from Fox.[15] In contrast, Ball recorded only 10 points.[16] The game was largely seen as a domination of Ball by Fox, with a New York Post headline saying, "De'Aaron Fox shuts down Lonzo Ball and shuts up his dad," in reference to LaVar Ball's bold comments about his son.[17][16]
Following the season, LaVar began perpetuating drama between his son and Fox. After UCLA's season-ending loss, he said, "[The Bruins] came up short, but one game doesn't define [Lonzo's] season. No one is going to take De'Aaron Fox over him because of one game. It's about your body of work, and people know what he can do."[18] Shortly before the 2017 NBA draft, De'Aaron's father Aaron Fox responded to the comments: "My son already ate his ass up twice. [LaVar] can say what he wants to say. I just tell him to go back and watch the film. That's it. All that yap, yap, yapping, I don't even got to respond to that. We played them twice. Twice his son got outplayed."[19]
NBA[edit]
Despite growing drama between him and Ball, on July 5, 2017, Fox said that it was simply a "friendly rivalry," citing LeBron James and Kevin Durant.[20] On July 6, NBA on TNT posted a video on Twitter about the rivalry, mocking Ball for his NCAA tournament loss.[21] Prior to a highly anticipated NBA Summer League game between the Kings and Lakers scheduled on July 10, it was announced that Ball would sit out due to a groin strain.[22] Immediately after the news broke, Fox tweeted a single facepalm emoji and then deleted it shortly afterwards.[22] When asked about his actions, he downplayed them, saying, "I like to play with y'all."[23] CBS Sports wrote that Ball's absence "only fuels the potential rivalry."[24] On July 17, LaVar Ball, when asked about whether his son was intentionally avoiding to play Fox, said, "Duck De'Aaron Fox? Have you heard about De'Aaron Fox? Hell nah. You can't hear about him unless he puts my boy's name in his mouth."[25]
On July 12, Fox told ESPN that his connection with Ball is "basically a rivalry" due to its popularity among fans.[26] On July 20, Lonzo's teammate Julius Randle spoke about the situation between Ball and Fox, "I guess that rivalry is going to live forever," praising both players.[27] In an interview in August, Fox expressed ambivalence about considering his relationship with Ball a rivalry.[28] In early October, during the 2017–18 NBA preseason, Ball suffered an ankle injury that would keep him out of a second game vs. the Kings.[29] His second absence against the team raised more questions about whether he was "ducking" Fox, drawing attention from ESPN.[30] On Instagram, former Kings player DeMarcus Cousins posted, "Shorty gotta stop running from that action," referring to Ball.[31][32]
References[edit]
- ↑ Uggetti, Paolo (July 11, 2017). "Lonzo Ball and De'Aaron Fox Are Different Enough to Be Great Rivals". The Ringer. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ↑ Gardner, Michelle (November 25, 2015). "Talented Ball brothers bring entertaining brand of basketball to Inland Empire". Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ Jordan, Jason (March 30, 2016). "McDonald's All American Lonzo Ball is finally proven, now he's focused on fun". USA Today High School Sports. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ Meyer, Jerry (March 10, 2016). "Lonzo Ball wins Naismith Trophy". 247Sports.com. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "ESPN Basketball Recruiting". ESPN. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "De'Aaron Fox". 247Sports.com. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ "Cypress Lakes (Texas) guard De'Aaron Fox still has buisness to finish before heading off to Kentucky". USA Today High School Sports. March 24, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ Norlander, Matt (November 12, 2015). "No. 1 2016 point guard De'Aaron Fox commits to Kentucky Wildcats". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ "Lonzo Ball & De'Aaron Fox as 10th graders doing work at Pangos All-American camp!". Ballislife.com. June 1, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ Loop, Nate (March 30, 2016). "McDonald's All-American Game Roster 2016: Top Prospects in Showcase Event". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ "Josh Jackson, Frank Jackson lead West in McDonald's All-American". ESPN. March 31, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ Bolch, Ben (December 3, 2016). "No. 11 UCLA knocks off the top-ranked Wildcats in Kentucky". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Norlander, Matt (December 4, 2016). "Breaking down Lonzo Ball-De'Aaron Fox PG matchup in UCLA's upset of Kentucky". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ Miller, Kerry (December 2, 2016). "UCLA's Lonzo Ball vs. Kentucky's De'Aaron Fox Will Be Must-See TV". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ Rosenberg, Michael (March 25, 2017). "De'Aaron Fox gets the best of Lonzo Ball as Kentucky wins showdown with UCLA". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Kirshner, Alex (March 25, 2017). "De'Aaron Fox dominated Lonzo Ball and drove Kentucky to the Elite Eight". SB Nation. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ Serby, Steve (March 25, 2017). "De'Aaron Fox shuts down Lonzo Ball and shuts up his dad". New York Post. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ DiNitto, Marcus (March 26, 2017). "LaVar Ball: No NBA team is drafting De'Aaron Fox over Lonzo". Sporting News. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ Fisher, Chris (June 21, 2017). "De'Aaron Fox's father finally responds to LaVar Ball". 247Sports.com. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ↑ Karpuc, Dan. "De'Aaron Fox addresses rivalry with Lonzo Ball". GiveMeSport.com. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ↑ Rosa, Rolando (July 6, 2017). "TNT creates hysterical video of De'Aaron Fox roasting Lonzo Ball". SECCountry.com. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Zucker, Joseph (July 10, 2017). "Lonzo Ball Has Groin Injury, Will Not Play vs. Kings in Summer League". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ↑ Chiari, Mike (July 11, 2017). "De'Aaron Fox Says 'No One Is Ducking Anybody' After Lonzo Ball's Groin Injury". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ↑ Boone, Kyle (July 10, 2017). "Lonzo Ball resting sore groin, out of summer league game vs. De'Aaron Fox". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ↑ Zucker, Joseph (July 17, 2017). "LaVar Ball Rips De'Aaron Fox, Says Lonzo Never Ducked Him During Summer League". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ↑ "Fox: Rivalry with Ball is real". ESPN. July 12, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ↑ Page, Fletcher (July 22, 2017). "Julius Randle: De'Aaron Fox, Lonzo Ball rivalry will 'live forever'". USA Today. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ↑ Tucker, Kyle. "Kentucky Basketball: De'Aaron Fox talks budding Lonzo Ball rivalry (again)". SECCountry.com. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ↑ Ganguli, Tania (October 8, 2017). "Lonzo Ball will miss Sunday's game — and possibly the rest of the preseason". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ↑ "Lonzo Ball ducking De'Aaron Fox?". YouTube. October 9, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ↑ Pandian, Ananth (October 9, 2017). "Cousins says Ball is 'running from' De'Aaron Fox on Instagram". 247Sports.com. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ↑ "DeMarcus Cousins adds fuel to the "Lonzo Ball is afraid of De'Aaron Fox" fire". SactownRoyalty.com. October 9, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
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