Saturday 9 March 2019 08:17, UK
Lonzo Ball's badly sprained left ankle may prevent him from returning to action this season, according to Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton.
Ball was injured on January 19 at Houston and was initially expected to be ruled out for four to six weeks, but Walton said the furthest the second-yard guard has progressed in his return to basketball activities is dribbling drills and standstill shooting.
Ball needs to make significant progress toward a return, Walton said, and insisted he "wouldn't even have the conversation" about a return date "until we've had a week's worth of practice with him and whatnot. So like I said, he's not close to that".
The Lakers have 17 games to play in the regular season, which ends on April 9.
After losing four straight games and six of seven, they are 30-35 and tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves for 10th place in the Western Conference playoff chase.
Ball, who was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, has appeared in 47 games this season. He is averaging 9.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 30.3 minutes.
The Lakers lost that game in Houston when Ball was hurt, and they've lost 13 of 18 games since then.
