That is the view of Lakers’ star LeBron James and coach Luke Walton.
James’ Lakers were crushed by the Nuggets 117-85 in their ninth defeat of the season.
The Lakers’ blowout loss was made to feel even worse as Ball was forced to leave the game just before halftime because of a fall with Nuggets’ guard Malik Beasley.
James felt that Ball’s injury was a detriment to the team.
“Just the way we play, with the pace that we play, it’s just tough to lose any of our point guard, let alone not having both of them,” James said.
“Zo was playing some good ball up until that moment. It just hurt our team.”
Lakers Coach Luke Walton also seemed worried about Ball’s fall so decided it was best to pull him from the action.
He sprained his ankle pretty good,” Walton said.
“But he wanted to give it a go. But the way he was moving out there, it just didn’t feel right to leave him out on the court, so we got him out quickly.
“It hurts [to lose Ball].”
Ball, who is currently providing the Lakers with much-needed point-guard duties in the absence of veteran Rajon Rondo, was certainly desperate to play on.
“I mean, I wanted to play,” Ball said.
“Coaching staff thought it was better for me to take a rest, so that’s what I did… I gave it a go, and I guess I wasn’t moving good enough for them, so they just pulled me.”
The number two draft pick, though, did not sound worried when quizzed on the likeliness that he plays the Lakers’ next game at home to the Indiana Pacers.
“I’m playing Thursday, yeah,” Ball said.
This will prove crucial to the Lakers’ personnel plans Rondo continues to recover from hand surgery.
The Lakers now have a day off before playing three tough home games against the Pacers, the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoneix Suns.