More NBA players are going after Lonzo Ball, and it's starting to get under the Lakers' skin

Kelvin Kuo/AP

• The Washington Wizards are the latest team to go after Lonzo Ball, with Marcin Gortat saying John Wall will "torture" Ball for 48 minutes because of LaVar Ball's trash-talk.
• The Los Angeles Lakers stood up for Lonzo, saying they have his back and that Lonzo was irked by the Wizards' comments.
• Lonzo continues to insist that he doesn't mind, but a weekly sideshow about opponents going after Lonzo may become tiring for the Lakers.

Less than a week after Patrick Beverley warned Lonzo Ball that NBA players will go after him because of his father;s outspoken ways, the Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard is once again under attack.

On Monday, Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat tweeted that his teammate, Wizards point guard John Wall, will "torture" Lonzo for 48 minutes when the two teams play on Wednesday.

Gortat was responding to a tweet with a video of LaVar Ball saying that the Wizards should be prepared for Lonzo because Lonzo won't lose twice in the same week.

The comments apparently did not please Lonzo or the Lakers. Lakers forward Brandon Ingram told reporters later on that the tweet bothered Lonzo.

"The competitor in Lonzo, of course he didn't take it so well and, with his teammates behind him, we didn't take it so well," Ingram said.

Ball, once again, played it cool when asked about the tweet, saying: "I don't pay no mind to it ... I already know my teammates have my back. So we're going to go out there, we're going to play and hopefully get a win."

Though Wall didn't take credit for Gortat's comment, he did acknowledge to The Washington Post that he wants to play well against Lonzo because of LaVar's comments.

"Certain matchups you really get up for," Wall said. "Like when you play Steph [Curry], you definitely want to have a good game. I'm playing against [Ball]. [Gortat] said what he said about me. I didn't say anything. His dad has been talking ... that makes me want to go out there and lead my team and play the best I can play."

Once again, this is the fear some people had about Lonzo's rookie year. He has been thrust into an even brighter spotlight because of his father's words, and though Lonzo has said his father's brashness doesn't bother him, it clearly bothers Lonzo's opponents. Lonzo responded to a weak opening game with a 29-point, 11-assist effort in a win over the Phoenix Suns in his second game. For the season, he is averaging 13 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists per game. Clearly, the attention isn't taking too big of a toll.

However, a weekly side show about opponents going after Lonzo because of his father's words may become tiresome for the Lakers as the season continues.