New Orleans Pelicans: Lonzo Ball is the Next Jason Kidd

The Early Days

Ball started drawing comparisons to Kidd long before he entered the NBA as the second overall pick for the Los Angeles Lakers. Both Kidd and Ball come from California and were gifted and successful high school players who drew national attention even at a young age.

Both Kidd and Ball led their respective high school teams to state titles, Kidd achieving the feat twice. Both were McDonald’s All-Americans and took the Naismith Award as the top prep player in the nation.

Their high school statistics were nearly identical, with Kidd averaging 25 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and seven steals in his final year, while Ball averaged a triple-double with 23.9 points, 11.7 assists and 11.3 rebounds per game.

They were highly recruited by the nation’s top universities but both Kidd and Ball decided to play in their native California, Kidd staying close to home in the Bay Area at the University of California at Berkeley, and Ball playing at UCLA in his native Los Angeles.

Both went to programs that were coming off poor seasons, but that quickly changed, as Kidd and Ball were able to turn around their respective teams and get them back into national contention.

They had record-setting but short college careers, with Ball becoming the first player in the Pac 12 to average at least 14 points while also getting at least seven assists and six rebounds since Kidd did it for Cal. It may not have been intentional, but Ball seemed to follow in Kidd’s footsteps wherever he went.

This included being selected number two overall in the draft by the Lakers, as Kidd was also the second selection when he was taken by the Dallas Mavericks.

Their early playing days couldn’t have been much more similar, but they also had some problems off the court.