Lonzo Ball calls out Stephen A. Smith

Lonzo sure proved Stephen A. wrong.

© Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball has rarely made public statements since he injured his knee in January 2022. He purposely shuns the spotlight, and unlike many other NBA stars who regularly appear on podcasts, Lonzo isn't even active on social media. However, the former UCLA star recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to post a video of him doing one-legged squats after Stephen A. Smith declared that he was having difficulty getting up from the seated position.

Wrong sources

The loquacious Stephen A declared on "First Take" on Tuesday that he "heard it's even hard for [Ball] to get up from a sitting position." Ball then posted a video of him doing the exercise on his surgically-repaired left knee to prove how wrong the TV personality was. He said:

"Stephen A., who are your sources, bro? Please tell me who your sources are. Come on, man, you gotta stop yapping. And I actually like you, man. I don't even know you like that, but I like you. I'm coming back, man! Come on!"

@stephenasmith come to the actual source next time. I’m not hard to reach pic.twitter.com/88xyoB7LTf

— Lonzo Ball (@ZO2_) August 22, 2023

On the comeback trail

Though the 25-year-old will not play in the NBA this season as he recovers from his third knee surgery in less than two years, Lonzo remains committed to returning to the Bulls and making the same impact he had when he joined the team in 2021. With Lonzo orchestrating the offense and playing lockdown defense on opposing guards, the Bulls were one of the best teams during the early stages of the 2021-2022 season.

However, things fell apart for the Bulls when Lonzo went down. Though they made it to the postseason during that year, they got eliminated by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. The following season, the Bulls didn't even make it to the NBA Playoffs and failed to secure a .500 record for the season.