That is the opinion of ESPN reporter Dave McMenamin.
LeBron had huge praise for Ball after a win over the Utah Jazz last week, declaring: “Sometimes he doesn’t realise how great he is. The things that he possesses out on the floor, when Zo realises how good he is on the floor, it makes him a very dynamic player and it makes us even better.”
The 21-year-old guard has been more aggressive in recent games having had a forgettable pair of nights against the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat earlier this month.
But he followed those underwhelming games up with big nights against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Utah Jazz, coach Luke Walton declaring after the former: “I loved it. That was one of my favorite parts of our game, was how much he was attacking the rim.
“Even the ones he didn’t finish, I didn’t care. Just seeing him get downhill, get physical and play-make, he’s so gifted with that. To see him kind of take that next step was really a positive for us.”
Lonzo was solid again on Sunday with nine points, 10 rebounds and two assists although the Lakers fell to the Magic for a second straight meeting, losing 108-104.
His recent upturn in form comes with LeBron having reportedly been key to getting Ball into the right place mentally, encouraging him total greater control of games behind-the-scenes in addition to his public comments.
And to McMenamin, LeBron is playing a similar role to the one he took on the responsibility of ensuring Kyrie’s head didn’t drop in their championship-winning 2016 season after his snub for the All-Star team.
McMenamin told The Jump on ESPN: “This reminded me so much of his second year playing with Kyrie Irving.
“Kyrie coming off knee surgery, doesn’t make the All-Star team. He’d already been All-Star MVP at that point in his career.
“It was a blow to his ego, to his confidence. LeBron said, ‘Don’t worry about All-Star, you’re going to be MVP some day.’
“Really putting wind in his sails. I think the same thing is going on here. When did LeBron make these comments about Lonzo?
“After Lonzo had a back-to-back where he went one-for-12 and scored two points total in those two games.
“He said, ‘Don’t worry about those two games on a weekend in Florida, what I need you to do is recognise where your future is going to be in this game.
“’As soon as you take control of that and make your internal belief that it’s your destiny, that’s going to help you, it’s going to help me, it’s going to help our team. And everything will work out.’
“He’s kind of coached up the kids."
On being coached to be more aggressive on the ball, Lonzo said after the Magic loss: “Yeah my target is to take it, for the most part I’m trying to.
“It’s a little harder when we couldn’t get no stops though.”