De’Aaron Fox and Lonzo Ball have yet to play an NBA game, but they’ve already established a pretty serious rivalry. The two point guards faced off twice in their lone college seasons, with their teams splitting the matchups but Fox outplaying Ball both times, then were compared constantly leading up to the NBA Draft.
They were going to meet up again Monday when Ball’s Lakers met Fox’s Kings in a Summer League game, but Lonzo came down with a minor groin injury that cause him to miss the matchup.
That news led Fox to tweet (and quickly delete) this emoji, apparently expressing exasperation at his counterpar.
De'Aaron Fox's since-deleted tweet, presumably in reference to no rematch with Ball. pic.twitter.com/tnHVfOxAAw
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) July 10, 2017
Fox wound up scoring 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting in the game, but the Lakers beat a fairly loaded Kings team, 95-92. Afterward, Fox was asked about his tweet, and he went with the old “hacked” defense, which players apparently can no longer use with a straight face.
Kings' De'Aaron Fox on his tweet after Lakers shut down Lonzo Ball: "I got hacked. (Laughs) … They played extremely well without him." pic.twitter.com/GLVchbNzTP
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) July 11, 2017
Despite the snarky tweet earlier in the day, Fox was pretty diplomatic (and sensible) in talking about the Lakers’ decision to hold back Ball for risk of a more serious injury.
De'Aaron Fox vouches for Lonzo Ball: "He's a competitor. If he's hurt, it's Summer League, don't risk it. … No one is ducking anybody." pic.twitter.com/OfGtWzyuaX
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) July 11, 2017
It’s fun that Fox is trying to play up this rivalry—his dad is also doing his part—but the world will probably survive missing that Fox-Ball matchup… in Summer League.
In fact, we won’t have to wait long to see Fox and Ball square off again, as the Kings play the Lakers at the Staples Center in a preseason game Oct. 8. Then, as Western Conference opponents, they’ll meet up several times during the regular season, as well as in future regular seasons to come.
In other words, we’ll see plenty of Lonzo Ball vs. De’Aaron Fox over the next few years.
