LaMelo Ball gets the best of older brother Lonzo in first matchup in over 1,000 days: ‘Bigger than most games’

We may have started to take it for granted due to all the sibling matchups we see these days in the NBA: The Currys, the Thompson twins, the Martin twins, the Holidays — we even saw a father and son take the court earlier this season with LeBron and Bronny James.

Even so, it’s hard to imagine how surreal and cool it must be to square off against your brother in an NBA game. We got to see a very special version of that on Friday night, when LaMelo Ball and his older brother Lonzo Ball met on the court for the first time in over 1,000 days — 1,145 to be precise — due to Lonzo’s multi-year absence as he dealt with career-threatening injuries.

All that was in the past on Friday, however, when the two brothers guarded each other for stretches of the Charlotte Hornets‘ 125-123 win over the Chicago Bulls. LaMelo won both the team and individual battle, as he racked up 26 points and nine assists despite going just 1 for 9 from 3-point range. Lonzo, meanwhile, contributed six points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals in 24 minutes off the bench.

“It’s always a treat for me — definitely bigger than most games for me, just because he is my little brother, man,” Lonzo Ball said after the game. “I grew up playing with him a whole lot. So to see the growth has been amazing.”

The highlight of the brother battle came midway through the first quarter, when Lonzo locked down LaMelo with multiple efforts over a 15-second stretch. First he navigated over a screen, then under, then contested LaMelo’s 3-point attempt, and finally beat him to the spot on a drive to force a kickout.

Lonzo also knocked down a 3-pointer over his little bro in the second quarter.

To make the night even more family-oriented, middle brother and nascent music sensation LiAngelo Ball (aka Gelo) was in attendance at United Center.

Lonzo was a bit sour that he didn’t get a block on one of LaMelo’s layup attempts at a crucial juncture of the game with just under two minutes left, instead fouling him and sending him to the line.

“Probably nine times out of 10 I block that,” Lonzo Ball said after the game. “He got the one out of 10 and got a free throw out of it.”

The Ball brothers became viral sensations during their high school days at Chino Hills, winning a national title in 2015-16 with all three playing together (along with current Atlanta Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu … decent squad). Their father LaVar always abrasively said that all of his sons would play in the NBA — and two out of three is certainly not bad, especially considering both have shown moments of brilliance and LaMelo has already been an All-Star.

Hopefully we won’t have to wait another 1,000 days for the next matchup between the Ball brothers, because it’s always a delight.