Wednesday’s NBA Draft will not just be a banner moment for LaMelo Ball, who appears to be establishing himself as the No. 1 pick, but for Chino Hills as well. Known now as the hometown of the Ball family, Chino Hills also serves as the hometown of another likely top-ten pick in Onyeka Okongwu.
Okongwu served not just as a teammate with the Ball brothers on the famous undefeated Chino Hills side that won a state title in Lonzo’s senior year, he’s also served as a lifelong friend to the family. While the Ball brothers took the lion’s share of the praise and attention from that 2015-16 team that finished 35-0, a freshman Okongwu averaged 7.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.1 blocks.
“It was fun,” Okongwu said of playing with the Ball brothers in his media availability ahead of the draft on Friday. “I’ve known the Ball brothers since I was 10 years old. I remember me and ‘Melo used to watch Chino Hills play all of the time. Definitely playing with them my first two years of high school was fun. Playing with them, I learned how to rebound the ball a lot, block a lot of shots, rim-run. All of the things I learned from my first two years of high school really translated to the rest of my life playing basketball.
Okongwu eventually took a much different, far more traditional route to the 2020 NBA Draft than LaMelo, though anyone’s path would be more conventional than the youngest Ball brothers. While LaMelo made stops in Lithuania, the JBA, SPIRE and the NBL, Okongwu stayed at Chino Hills and won another state title before staying in southern California and attending USC.
As a Trojan, Okongwu forced his way into the conversation for the 2020 draft by averaging 16.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and shooting 61.6% from the field. Most telling of the relationship the two childhood friends built was that Ball sat courtside to watch Okongwu take on UCLA after his NBL season was cut short.
The pair never lost contact with one another and now the two friends are set to fulfill their lifelong dreams.
“I’m just happy for LaMelo to be where he is at right now,” Okongwu said. “LaMelo is a good kid. He has been to so many different places in life, he’s only 19 years old. I’m just happy he was able to live out his dream just like me and be an NBA player.”
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