Lakers: Three reasons why Lonzo Ball is better than you think

2. He has already changed the culture of the Lakers

Any fan of the Los Angeles Lakers should recognize that Lonzo Ball’s impact extends much further than his box score at the end of the night. Ball was brought in to lead this team, to change the culture of the offense. In today’s NBA, the Lakers needed someone to dictate the court, keep up a good tempo and create more open looks.

Ball has done all of that for the Los Angeles Lakers this season. While the team did add some key pieces to help him along the way, the Lakers are proving to be a much better offensive team and much more enjoyable to watch because of Ball.

Just look at their record. Los Angeles is 5-7 with wins over the Wizards, Pistons and Grizzlies. Los Angeles has been in almost every contest and easily could be at least 6-6.

The Lakers are making more passes, they are getting better looks and they are scoring more efficiently. The Lakers have jumped from 26th to 15th in assists per game (22.0) and from 21st to 12th in field goal percentage (46.0%).

Just watching the team play you can see the impact Ball has had on the offense. The Lakers are playing a much quicker pace, the team is finding the open man more frequently and nobody is playing selfishly. Every night there seems to be a different leading scorer. This team is more of a unit, something D’Angelo Russell could not accomplish.

While on the box score Lonzo Ball may not be able to compete with his rookie peers, his impact on the Los Angeles Lakers should be recognized.