Monday was another nothing-burger game for Lonzo Ball in a Cleveland Cavaliers uniform. The former second overall pick received just five minutes of action from head coach Kenny Atkinson, going 1-for-4 from the field with one assist and a turnover.
It might have had something to do with Cleveland getting dominated by the Oklahoma City Thunder, but Cavs fans inside Rocket Arena weren't vibing with Ball during his limited run on Monday afternoon.
According to The Inside Shot's Danny Cunningham, there was an "audible groan" inside the arena during every one of Lonzo's field goal attempts. Chris Fedor reiterated the same message.. Yikes.
Cavaliers fans are completely fed up with Lonzo Ball
The Lonzo hate is unfair, considering Ball's recent injury history. He deserves at least a full season to get his sea legs back, but it's obvious that Cavaliers fans don't have the patience for that.
Whether they are right or wrong in this approach isn't as relevant as the fact that their collective angst over Lonzo is real. Ball has lost the fan base.
He's probably about to lose his minutes, too, which were already meager. Craig Porter Jr. is the new backup point guard for the Cavs (deservedly so). There's also a good chance Tyrese Proctor will be eating up nearly all of Lonzo's minutes now that Proctor is active again.
On Monday, Atkinson gave Proctor 15 minutes to Ball's five. Notably, Proctor wasn't effective at all, committing three turnovers to just one assist and going 1-for-3 from the field.
Lonzo has now appeared in 29 games for the Cavs (three starts); he's shooting a dreadful 30.6 percent from the field and 27.1 percent from 3.
On the bright side (if you can imagine it, Cavs fans), there's far more to Lonzo's game than shooting. He can affect winning in a lot of different ways, including defensively, which is why his nightmarish shooting right now shouldn't mean that he's a complete zero as a player.
If Lonzo were playing for a lottery team, he'd be able to shoot his way out of this slump without any worries. It's much harder to do that when you're playing for a hopeful (though underperforming) contender like the Cavs.
It feels like fans are holding their breath at Rocket Arena on every possession of this walking-on-ice season. That is the worst possible environment for Ball, who thrives when he can play freely.
Maybe Ball should just stop looking to shoot altogether for a while and focus on getting into the lane and finding others. Unfortunately, it'll require some playing time for Lonzo to try out this new strategy, and he's not likely to receive a lot from Atkinson moving forward.