NEWSLETTER
Let me be clearer than crystal: I would take every single word uttered out of LaVar Ball’s mouth with a grain of salt.
The loud-mouth father of the Ball Brothers has been quieted over the years due to his rather outlandish takes. As a father, it’s not hard to understand his homer-istic support for his sons. But stepping out of the spotlight has surely helped improve the reputation of both Lonzo and LaMelo Ball as they begin their NBA careers.
Still, LaVar tends to pop up every once in a while, and his latest appearance comes courtesy of NBC Sports Chicago’s David Kaplan. The Chicago sports personality discussed a wide range of topics with the father of three on his YouTube channel. And, of course, with the biggest story of the offseason centered around Zach LaVine, Kaplan asked Ball for his thoughts.
Here’s what LaVar had to say:
“He’s gone. And I’m going to tell you why. It started off: Zach LaVine, Zach LaVine, Zach LaVine. Now, he’s hurt, a few things happen, guess who’s doing all the big plays? All I hear is DeMar. DeMar, DeMar, DeMar. You don’t want to play second fiddle. And who doesn’t want to go to LA?
…
If he got a chance to go there, I guarantee he ain’t no fool because he’s like this: I’m in LA even when I get paid, I know I can do some commercials or something. He’s a good looking guy, nice kid, they’re going to love him in LA.”
I should probably specify that LaVar didn’t come up with this Los Angeles destination on his own. Kaplan ended his question with the note that there has been speculation that LA could be a possible landing spot (as we know, largely because of the Klutch ties with LeBron James).
Do I think LaVar has actually been told LaVine is looking at LA? Not in the slightest.
Instead, I think he ran with this theory simply because Kaplan brought it up.
To add to that, in what world does LaVar’s explanation for LaVine going to LA make sense? Sure, we can all understand the market is attractive and the Klutch connection is there, but LaVine heading to LA because he’s mad about being second-fiddle in Chicago would be a truly bonkers decision. Not only does he project to be No. 1 for the Bulls moving forward, but he would be behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis!!! The guy would become third-freakin’-fiddle!
I know when someone this close to a member of the team makes a prediction it can feel relatively noteworthy. And, heck, maybe it will prove to be as the offseason plays itself out. But I just can’t get myself to trust LaVar’s hypothesis, especially when he goes to say this:
“You see it too, and you can see it kind of change. It was kind of his team, but everyone understood it’s Lonzo’s team. Y’all are just filling in, which is cool. But it’s Lonzo’s team. Y’all can do all the scoring you want, but Lonzo knows how to play with people who score the ball a lot.”
Oh, and this:
“You need another scorer, and don’t think ‘Gelo can’t score better than Zach because he’s 230. Zach is a lightweight. You can throw some post-ups to Gelo, and he’ll shoot the three at a higher clip. And it’s your brother, so the chemistry is going to be really good.”
Yes, that is LaVar pitching his other out-of-NBA son, LiAngelo Ball, as LaVine’s replacement. So do you think he really has a grasp on what’s going on behind the scenes now?
Anyway, you can watch the full interview with LaVar Ball below. I guess we’ll see if his words hold any weight in a couple of months, but I will not be losing sleep for the time being.
