Did Chino Hills have the most talented high school basketball team ever?
Say what you will about the Ball family, but there is no denying they produce some tremendous basketball players. Two of the three Ball brothers are now in the NBA with another playing in the G League, and it turns out Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo may have played on the most talented high school basketball team of all time.
The three Ball players played on the same Chino Hills High School team as former USC star Onyeka Okongwu, who was the No. 6 overall pick in the NBA Draft on Wednesday night, and Loyola Marymount standout Eli Scott. Have a look at this starting five from the Chino Hills team that went 35-0 four years ago:
35-0. One of the best teams in HS basketball history.
Four years later, their resumes back it up @ZO2_ @MELOD1P @LiAngeloBall @BigO21_ @0toEli pic.twitter.com/t7iBnogG5U
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 20, 2020
There have been some great high school teams over the years that featured multiple players who went on the enjoy NBA careers. One that comes to mind in recent history was the 2013-14 Montverde Academy (Fla.) team, which had D’Angelo Russell and Ben Simmons. We’d still take the Chino Hills team.
Of course, those Chino Hills teams paid a price for greatness. Their coaches had to put up with LaVar Ball, which sounds like it was never an easy task. At least they have arguably the greatest high school team of all time to show for it.