CHINO HILLS, Calif. – Growing up, Lonzo Ball remembers the footage of Magic Johnson replayed on his computer screen. It was his first experience watching film and critiquing another player’s game, and his father, LaVar Ball, engrained a message in his mind: this represents the purity of basketball. Lonzo Ball would grow taller in four years at Chino Hills High School, blending a 6-foot-6 frame with considerable skills by the time he committed to UCLA.

“I watched tape on Magic when I was young,” Ball told The Vertical, “and it’s why you can see it in my game. He liked to pass, I like to pass. He was a big point guard, I’m a big point guard. And I feel the way the game is played means a lot to him and me.”

Ball, after just one season with the Bruins, is vying with Washington’s Markelle Fultz, Kansas’ Josh Jackson and Duke’s Jayson Tatum to be the top overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, but also has a chance to become Johnson’s first selection as Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations.

Ball was sitting inside his suburban Southern California home recently with framed pictures of him holding trophies in high school and college on the white walls. His family tightly surrounds him, and the pre-draft process could favor the Lakers should the franchise keep its top-three protected pick.

“The Lakers are in L.A., and they’re close to home,” Ball told The Vertical. “This is where all my family is. Hopefully, they have a nice pick and they have a chance to get me. I want this to be realistic. Just being very family-oriented, to play in front of them would mean a lot to me. The Lakers are a young team and they have a lot of young talent.”

The Lakers represent a hometown preference, but could lose their top-three protected selection to the Philadelphia 76ers in the May 16 draft lottery, so Ball makes clear his desire to change the fortunes of whichever team selects him.

“I’ll play for anyone, all 30 teams,” Ball told The Vertical. “I want the challenge of helping turn around any team in the league. Just making it to the NBA, that’s my goal.”

Ball, 19, helped revitalize UCLA as the Bruins went from 15-17 in 2015-16 to 31-5 this past season, with Ball displaying impeccable passing vision and court presence. From coach Steve Alford to UCLA players, Ball has received credit publicly for restoring a winning culture.

His father turned into a media personality, a public voice to push the family’s branding, and yet nothing appeared to faze Ball. “That’s who he’s been since I was a kid,” Ball told The Vertical about his father. He has listened to critiques about how his father’s outspoken demeanor could impact how opponents respond to him on the court, but says no one has used it as trash talk. NBA executives told The Vertical that Ball’s focus and mild-mannered personality separate him from the off-court noise.

The Lakers are attempting to change the perception of the franchise with the hiring of Johnson in February and Rob Pelinka, a former player agent, as general manager in March. There’s a more aligned approach to decision-making now, a drive to find talent and players to fit the franchise’s historic culture, which has taken dents over four consecutive losing seasons. The Lakers witnessed free agents such as Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge bypass them during the past two years, failed to pursue a childhood Lakers fan in Isaiah Thomas and are undergoing a process of building through the draft.

'Hopefully, they have a nice pick and they have a chance to get me,' Ball said of the Lakers. More

Ball believes he could change the way future free agents perceive the Lakers. His proximity and promise as a Showtime player make some believe it’s a natural fit, but he’s more sure about this: He’ll accept the responsibility of improving a franchise – no matter where he lands.

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