New Orleans Pelicans: Appreciating Lonzo Ball’s Awkward Jumper

As proper shooting form has become the norm, guys with an awkward jumper, like Lonzo Ball of the New Orleans Pelicans, have found a soft spot in my heart.

The New Orleans Pelicans have a lot of shooters with great form. Lonzo Ball is not one of them.

When watching an NBA game, you’ll notice most players have a very similar jump shot. Not that that’s a bad thing, a more repeatable and simple shot means there’s less to go wrong each time a player shoots.

Think about J.J. Redick, his shot is nearly the same every time. That’s part of the reason he’s one of the best three-point shooters in NBA history.

I’ve got nothing against guys who make 44% of their field goals over their entire career like Redick, but there’s something about those bad shooting forms that calls out to me.

Maybe it’s because I’m a terrible shooter myself and seeing a professional athlete not be perfect on the court makes them more relatable; or maybe it’s that with those shaky forms the result is much less predictable.

It adds some excitement to the game when someone with bad form gets a wide open look in the corner; you want the shot to go in but nothing would be a surprise.

The bad form shot often gets the “No! No! Yes!!” treatment, as you try to psychically stop the guy from shooting, then cheer as it somehow goes in.

The New Orleans Pelicans have a player with one of the most mocked shooting forms in the NBA in Lonzo Ball. Here’s a bit of analysis on him from before the 2017 Draft, courtesy of  NBADraft.net:

"His inability to pull up in the mid-range is a function of his extremely slow shooting mechanics. Ball’s low release point and need to come back across his body certainly seem to factor into his inability to get his jumper off when pulling up off the dribble, and he has almost no in-between game because of it"

No one would have expected Lonzo to be a threat to drain threes based off this, but since coming to New Orleans his shots have started to fall at a much higher rate (most notably his three-point percentage has risen to 38.3% this season from 32.9% in his last year in LA).

Ball has spent a lot of time working with assistant coach Fred Vinson on his form and the results speak for themselves. But his jumper is still one of the most awkward looking in the NBA.

Not that having a weird shooting form disqualifies a player from being great, some of the games greatest players like Magic Johnson and Wilt Chamberlain have had unique shooting forms. It’s just that the forms they had made them more relatable to the average fan, who grew up putting up bricks with their friends.

Lonzo Ball could be on his way to having an above average three-point percentage for his career (35.7% was league average for the 2019-20 season). If he can maintain the gains he’s made this season, especially in January and February when he shot 36.4% and 38.2% respectively from deep, it could be the key to unlocking the New Orleans Pelicans’ offense.

When Lonzo was at UCLA he would bring the ball across his body so that he was releasing on the left side of his head even though he’s a right handed shooter. That kind of release limits the power he can get because the energy has to travel in jagged lines instead of straight when he shoots.

Since he’s come to New Orleans however his form is much more conventional, bringing the ball up the middle of his face. This lets him line up his body with the basket in a more effective way. The shot is still somewhat long and the release isn’t the smoothest but that’s just fine with me.

Lonzo Ball’s shot may be perfect, but like many ugly shot pioneers before him, it is effective, and in the end, putting the ball in the basket is all that matters.

Long live the ugly jumper.