Lonzo Ball

CTL-E-5905 · Person · other · 1997–present

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07150 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-5905.

Lonzo Ball, born Lonzo Anderson Ball on 27 October 1997 in Anaheim, California, is an American point guard whose career has been shaped by elite playmaking and a persistent left-knee injury. At Chino Hills High School he played alongside his brothers LiAngelo and LaMelo on a team that finished 35-0 in his senior season and took consensus national honors. In one season at UCLA he led the nation in assists, set the school single-season assists record, earned consensus first-team All-American honors and won the Wayman Tisdale Award. The Los Angeles Lakers selected him second overall in the 2017 NBA draft, and he made the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 2018. Traded to New Orleans in 2019 in the Anthony Davis deal, he played two seasons for the Pelicans before joining the Chicago Bulls in a 2021 sign-and-trade. A meniscus tear in January 2022 and a cartilage transplant in March 2023 cost him the full 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons; he returned for 35 games with Chicago in 2024-25, then played 35 games for Cleveland in 2025-26 before a February 2026 trade and waiver left him a free agent.

The record

• Also known as: Lonzo Anderson Ball, Zo

Notes

Staged 2026-10-16 under CTL-GOV-006 (Census Intake Wave 3 — 747 Program, Wave 9; 40-record packet). Gate A (2026-10-16): no Lonzo Ball entity in the live graph at 3,603 entities (exact / normalized / alias + token containment); ID CTL-E-5905 free. Supply: 747 Supply Ledger, Tier 3 — Famous Birthdays ABSENT census, readiness rank 1031 (Basketball Players list). The census supplied the NAME ONLY; no fact in this record is sourced to it (CTL-GOV-004). SCOPE GATE: PASS — Black American guard; Chicago Bulls tenure (2021-2025) gives the record its Chicago tie. Vital status: LIVING — dated 2026 evidence: on 23 September 2026 he publicly denied retirement reports and said he was still waiting for a call (USA Today / Hoops Rumors). STATISTICS (sourced, dated): 322 regular-season games and career averages of 10.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.6 assists; 35 games for Cleveland in 2025-26 at 4.6 points per game before the February 2026 waiver (Land of Basketball / USA Today) — accessed 2026-10-16. MEDIA: photo HELD (NBA and team press photography of Ball with Chicago and Cleveland; a CTL-created graphic is the cleared alternative.); chart FILLED (charts/chart-ctl-e-5905-lonzo-ball.svg); video HELD (the Shorts Link Map catalog was checked by name and variants — no matching-entity CTL Short exists for this subject); audio HELD (no CTL-owned or rights-cleared matching-entity audio). MEDIA LAYER (staged 2026-10-16; full per-asset PHOTO-001 records + embed specs in the packet's staged JSON, Drive packet folder): map = N/A (Person records carry no map slot under the media-layer rule; maps attach to places and institutions.) | visual_assets = HELD: | chart = FILLED (CTL-created SVG (black / deep red / gold) built only from this record's sourced facts) | video = HELD (No matching-entity CTL Short in the Shorts Link Map catalog (checked by name and variants), and no official/em) | audio = HELD (No CTL-owned or rights-cleared matching-entity audio at staging; the subject's own recordings/appearances are )

Relationships

• Chicago Bulls — played for
  Lonzo Ball joined the Chicago Bulls in a 2021 sign-and-trade and played for Chicago in 2021-22 and again in 2024-25 after missing two full seasons to a knee injury — the Chicago tenure at the center of this record.
• Los Angeles Lakers — played for
  Selected second overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2017 NBA draft; played his first two seasons there (2017–2019) before the Anthony Davis trade.

Referenced by

• LaVar Ball — related to → this record

Sources

• USA Today (For The Win), "Is Lonzo Ball retired? NBA star clears up mixed messages on his future" (23 September 2026) — free agent since the Utah Jazz waived him on 5 February 2026; 4.6 points in 35 games for Cleveland in 2025-26; denied retiring and said he is still waiting for a call — https://ftw.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2026/09/23/lonzo-ball-retire-nba-future/91905498007/ (primary source · build store)
• Hoops Rumors, "Lonzo Ball Denies Retirement Rumors, Says He's Still Seeking Opportunity" (23 September 2026) — unrestricted free agent since February 2026; Cleveland acquired him from Chicago for Isaac Okoro; missed two full seasons with knee issues before 35 games for Chicago in 2024-25 — https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2026/09/lonzo-ball-denies-retirement-rumors-says-hes-still-seeking-opportunity.html (build store)
• Wikipedia, "Lonzo Ball" — born 27 October 1997, Anaheim; Chino Hills 35-0 senior season; UCLA assists record and Tisdale Award; second overall pick in 2017; All-Rookie Second Team 2018; Bulls tenure and missed 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonzo_Ball (build store)

More person records

• James Monroe Iglehart
• James Moody
• James Morgan
• James P. Danky
• James P. Johnson
• James R. Grossman

Browse the full directory: all entity records

Record CTL-E-5905 · Combined Graph record U-07150 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 3 sources · 3 mapped relationships.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

Cite this record

Citation guidance for teachers, journalists, and funders: How to Cite Us.

From the Archive

The archive in pictures

The people, places, and institutions this work documents. Photographs from the CultureTechLens research record — rights-cleared, credited, and cited like everything else here.