Kentucky point guard De’Aaron Fox got the better of Lonzo Ball, in a big way, on Friday night in the Sweet 16. Fox, who finished with 39 points on 13-of-20 shooting, more than proved his chops as one of the best prospects in the country primed to make a splash in the NBA. Meanwhile, Ball looked absolutely ordinary, if not entirely outmatched, in scoring 10 pretty meaningless points and basically having no impact on the biggest game of his life to this point. We were all wondering when we were going to hear from LaVar Ball -- you know, the guy who said Lonzo was the best player in the world -- and now we finally have.

Basically, LaVar finds it laughable that anyone would think Fox is a better player than his boy. 

I know that comes as a shock.

“They came up short, but one game doesn’t define his season,” LaVar told ESPN. “No one is going to take De’Aaron Fox over [Lonzo] because of one game. It’s about your body of work, and people know what he can do.”

In fairness, those are actually pretty mild comments for Mr. Ball. And they’re not without merit.  

UCLA played 36 games this season and, by this time in the scouting process, NBA guys know nearly everything they need to know about a player. Whether one player gets outplayed in a 40 minute period or not won’t ultimately change an NBA general manager’s mind. When you’re taking prospects that are 19 years old, it’s about upside as much as it is productivity.

Both prospects have plenty of upside. Lonzo finished his freshman season averaging 14.9 points and 7.6 assists per game to lead the country in assists, while Fox averaged 16.8 points and 4.6 assists.

Whoever gets taken first only matters for bragging rights, because it’s pretty clear both point guards are going to make a pair of NBA teams very happy in the near future.