NBA DRAFT 2017: Will Lonzo Ball's immense talent outweigh concerns?

Shortly after Ball wrapped up his session, down on 42nd Street, pedestrians squinted and craned their necks to get a look at a guy surrounded by a pack of cameras, smiling and announcing, “We’re ready!” That, of course, is LaVar Ball, the father of Lonzo, the man with the wind-up-toy mouth, a guy who thrives on camera attention like plants thrive on sunlight.

The son was asked how he could have wound up so dramatically different from his father. Lonzo’s words are measured. LaVar’s words are measured by the metric ton.

“He was raised in South Central and I was raised in Chino Hills,” Lonzo Ball said with a smile. “It was a lot easier where I’m from. I think that plays a big part in it.”

It’s been a fascinating month for Ball, who seemed to be a lock for the Lakers as far back as mid-May, when the Lakers got some lottery luck and held on to their draft pick, landing at No. 2 overall. If it had fallen from the top three, they would have shipped the pick to the Sixers and Lonzo Ball’s dream to play for his hometown Lakers would have vanished.

Of course, even when it comes to Lonzo Ball’s dreams, there is a little bit of LaVar behind them. LaVar Ball has taken criticism for putting forth his oldest son as the spearhead of an entire brand — Big Baller Brand — rather than simply allowing Lonzo to be a basketball player and staying out of the limelight.

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So the prospect of playing for the Lakers is not just a matter be being at home and wowing his fellow Southern California residents. It’s also about Los Angeles as a market, and what it could mean to Big Baller as a whole. That dichotomy is detectable in the way Lonzo Ball talks about playing in LA — it’s part branding opportunity (his dad) and part hometown pride (himself).

“LA is known pretty globally,” Lonzo Ball said. “I am from there, so it’s nothing to me. But to the outside world, there is a spotlight on LA and just being there pretty much boosts everything up. But I would just like to play for the hometown.”

There is no guarantee that the Lakers will choose Ball, and he acknowledged that on Wednesday. The Lakers, even after trading point guard D'Angelo Russell to the Nets on Tuesday, made Ball no draft promises, and did not make him privy to the team’s plans.

“The Lakers have a plan,” Ball said. “Whatever that is, we’ll see what it is in the future.”

DEVENEY: How far could Lonzo Ball fall?

Ball had a workout with the Lakers that did not go well on June 7 — the Lakers felt he was out of shape. He was invited back for another look a week later, and quelled some Lakers fears with a better showing. I asked Ball about those workouts, and he greeted me with the kind of stonewall his garrulous father could not maintain if he tried.

“I think they were both fine,” Ball said.

How can such a steady guy like Lonzo Ball have a shoot-for-the-hip dad like LaVar Ball? It hardly seems possible. But Lonzo Ball said he has just gotten accustomed to his father’s outspokenness, and though he tries to duck it, sometimes he can’t.

“People will tell me about it,” Lonzo Ball said. “It’s not like I am going to go find it. It’ll be on Twitter so, just stay off of Twitter. It’s not hard to avoid it.”

That’s an encouraging notion for the Lakers, should they pick Ball. Sure, they will have to deal with his father’s gravity, with the things he says and the criticism that always follows. But they’re not likely to get a lot of trouble from Ball himself.