Jamal Murray on showing up Lonzo Ball: 'I may have taken it too far'

Jordan Greer

•
Jamal Murray on showing up Lonzo Ball: 'I may have taken it too far' image

Lonzo Ball was never going to reach the ridiculous expectations set for him as a rookie. With Magic Johnson's endorsement, his father's constant boasting and the Big Baller Brand on his slender shoulders, all of Ball's haters were ready to call him a bust.

But even by any normal rookie measure, it's been a rough season for the former UCLA star. In the Lakers' 115-100 loss to the Nuggets on Saturday night, Ball scored nine points on 4-of-10 shooting with nine rebounds, five assists and five turnovers. Ball is down to 31.8 percent shooting for the year and below 50 percent from the free throw line. He also got hit with a technical foul late in the fourth quarter after earning a personal foul on a Jamal Murray shot attempt.

MORE: Will Lonzo be able to improve as a shooter?

Murray seemed to take the matchup personally, scoring 28 points in Denver's victory. Perhaps it had something to do with Ball putting up a triple-double in the Lakers' win against the Nuggets on Nov. 19, or maybe it was just taking a little pleasure in slowing down the Ball hype train.

Whatever the reason, Murray made it a point to not only outplay Ball, but also embarrass him before the buzzer. Ball's teammate Julius Randle wasn't a fan of Murray dribbling around Ball to end the game.

"I may have taken it too far. It was a bad play by me," Murray said after the game (via Harrison Wind of BSNDenver.com). "The energy was so great and we had such a great game. Like I said, I may have taken it too far but the energy was great and I felt like we could do anything we wanted."

Despite the reaction, Murray didn't seem too concerned with the incident based on his postgame tweet.

Ball and Murray were trading verbal shots throughout the game. Basketball is competitive, so trash talk happens. But pulling this move will definitely make the next matchup more intense.

Mark your calendars. The Lakers and Nuggets next meet in LA on March 9.

Jordan Greer

Jordan Greer Photo

Jordan Greer has been with The Sporting News since 2015. He previously worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He is a graduate of Westminster College and Syracuse University.