Lonzo Ball was a late scratch from the Los Angeles Lakers game against the Sacramento Kings, and De’Aaron Fox is a tad disappointed. 

Admit it — you were pumped to watch Ball and Fox go head-to-head yet again. The two have a budding rivalry going amongst fans after two competitive meetings in college, and the Kings and Lakers were set to face off Monday night in the Las Vegas Summer League. Unfortunately, Lonzo — along with Josh Hart (ankle) and Kyle Kuzma (cramps) — won’t be gracing the court due to a groin injury, much to Fox’s dismay.

Of course, the Internet took this joke and ran with it. The coincidence is funny. Even I had to have fun with it. (Sorry for the shameless Twitter plug.)

I don’t believe that Lonzo is resting. Frankly, it would be a bad look for the second overall pick to sit out of a Summer League game voluntarily. This is just a case of not wanting anything more to happen to the future of your franchise, and Magic Johnson already made the decision to shut down Brandon Ingram after his cramping incident.

ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported that Ball’s injury has been on-going but never made public. He’s been dealing with the pain since last week, and it intensified after the Lakers’ back-to-back.

Also Read: Grading The SL Debuts of Ball And Fox

Playing it safe is the right path. If Ball got severely injured in a Summer League game, the backlash that would get directed at the Lakers would be violent.

Just remember that Ball and Fox are going to see a lot of each come the regular season. The Kings and Lakers share the Pacific division, and they’re going to have four meetings during the 2017-18 season.

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