Lonzo Ball Reveals Who Convinced the Lakers to Draft Him Over Jayson Tatum

Back in 2017, a father’s national media campaign for his son became the story of an entire NBA draft class. Foot Locker even mocked it in a commercial that had Lonzo Ball joking about his dad “berating your high school coach in front of an entire crowd for not getting you enough touches.”

Lonzo himself confirmed just how much of that spectacle actually shaped his career. Appearing on Monday's episode of Michael Porter Jr.'s “Curious Mike” podcast, Ball addressed his father LaVar’s role in the Lakers selecting him second overall in 2017, ahead of Jayson Tatum, who went third to Boston and has since become a two-time NBA champion and Finals MVP.

"I think he had a huge influence on it, bro," said Ball. "To be honest, I think like he damn near made it to where they had to pick me, really, to a point. I really do feel like that."

For years, the assumption that LaVar Ball’s relentless campaigning, including his repeated claim that Lonzo would become a Laker, actually influenced a real front-office decision was treated as speculation. However, Lonzo Ball’s comments on the podcast confirmed that it was closer to reality than perception, with LaVar’s public pressure campaign playing a role in narrowing the Lakers’ options before the pick was ever made.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka had also offered some corroboration in the post-draft presser. He explained that a visit to the Ball family home and watching LaVar interact with his sons and wife played a real role in the front office’s evaluation process.

Growing Up With LaVar Made the Spectacle Feel Normal to Lonzo Ball

Lonzo Ball also used the conversation to explain why his father’s outspoken persona never struck him or his brothers as unusual.

“Bro’s been yelling, he’s been talking, cussing his whole life. That’s how I’ve known him,” Ball said on the aforementioned podcast. “So for us, what y’all see on TV is no different from what we were seeing at home. It’s not a shock to us.”

However, that wasn't what the public thought when they saw LaVar hyping up his sons so much that it felt like additional pressure from the outside. However, Lonzo acknowledged that his father never did anything that was unlike him.

"I think that you got to just be true to yourself, and from my point of view, that's what he's been," Ball added. "And, you know, I got to respect him for that. Like I said, he hasn't changed since I've known him. He's been talking his s---. He's been, you know, putting his best foot forward, you know, since I came into the world, and he's not done anything different other than that."

Though the father-son dynamic was one half of the Draft situation, the Ball versus Tatum comparison has only grown with time. Ball’s career was disrupted early by knee injuries and included stops with the Lakers, Pelicans, Bulls, and Cavaliers, while Tatum developed into a perennial All-Star, an NBA champion in 2024, and one of the faces of the league before a torn Achilles sidelined him for much of last season.

Kobe Bryant, who had worked out with a young Tatum, reportedly asked why the Lakers hadn’t taken him in the Draft, comments LaVar Ball dismissed as bias rather than legitimate criticism.