After notoriously being in the media for his very blunt comments, it is obvious that Lavar Ball thinks that any publicity is good publicity. Ball, the father of UCLA point guard and top NBA draft prospect Lonzo Ball, has made himself infamous throughout this college basketball season with his outlandish comments. A former DII basketball player himself, Ball was entertaining and comical with his comments at first. However, his comments are starting to get old, offensive, and simply foolish.
LaVar Ball recently told The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin of San Bernardino, "Realistically you can't win no championship with three white guys because the foot speed is too slow.” While Ball’s comments throughout the season brought humor and excitement to the UCLA basketball team, now, LaVar Ball is making himself look uneducated and racially intolerant.
College basketball coaching legend, Mike Krzyzewski, would beg to differ with Ball’s opinion. In 2010, Krzyzewski and his Duke Blue Devils won the national championship and amongst their starting five was Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer and Mason Plumlee – three white guys. Never mind guys like Larry Bird, Steve Nash, Jerry West or Kevin McHale.
Before this mishap, LaVar Ball was actually quite amusing. Ball became huge with the media only four games into the season when he told reporters, “UCLA is going to win the NCAA championship. You think I’m playing? Right here and right now. Guaranteed. Come see me when they win it.” He even went on to say that his son Lonzo is “better than Steph Curry.”
Ball, confident in his son’s ability to play the game, expressed the same confidence in his own game. “Back in my heyday, I would kill Michael Jordan one-on-one,’’ Ball told USA Today. His explanation for this was that Jordan is “too slow” to get around him and “too weak” to defend his low-post game. After hearing of this, Charles Barkley, who is five years older than Ball, challenged Ball to a game of one-on-one. To that, Ball said Barkley was “too slow” to beat him. Not only did he claim he could’ve beaten Jordan and Barkley, but LaVar Ball told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith that he could also beat LeBron James in one-on-one. “His will to win just isn’t the same as mine,” said Ball.
Up until now, LaVar Ball has been that one dad in the stands whom everybody respected for his utmost passion and support for his sons and what they do. But now, LaVar ball has becoming that loud, imprudent, obnoxious father, whom every other parent wishes would have just stayed home. Fans can only hope that whichever team Lonzo goes to in the upcoming draft, that his father will not become a distraction to Lonzo and his team.
wbologna@ramapo.edu
