By now, you almost surely know that LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball have signed contracts to play professional basketball in Lithuania. Outside of that, there isn’t too terribly much out there about the team they’re playing for, Vytautas Prienai–Birštonas, or what we can expect to see out of the pair during their time abroad. The little we do know, though, paints a picture of a franchise that may clash with its two new players on a few levels.
Thankfully, we got some new information about the coach for the franchise, Virginijus Šeškus. I say “thankfully” because the information presented is absolutely hilarious.
ESPN’s Fran Frascilla caught up with one of Šeškus’s former players and got a little bit of insight. There are four pieces of information. The first three are kind of whatever, the last one is absolute gold.
Prominant former American player who played for Ball brothers's new coach had some insight on him: 1. Competent coach w/free-wheeling pick-and-roll offense. 2. Speaks no English 3. Screams the entire game. 4. Sold meat out of his car trunk to his players after practice. I swear.
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) December 12, 2017
A short-tempered coach who is described as “competent” and doesn’t speak much English seems like the kind of thing that might not bode well for the Balls, even if putting them in an offense that is heavy on pick-and-rolls and lets them be creative is a fantastic fit.
But that last thing is just incredible. I have so many questions: How does he go about selling meat out of his car? Is it meat that he butchers himself? Does he buy it at a market, stash it in his trunk, and sell it at a markup? And what kind of meat are we talking about here? Is he stashing raw poultry in his car, or are we talking about beef and lamb and things of that nature? What does his car smell like? (Ok, the answer to that one is “horrific.”) Does he make players buy meat as punishment in lieu of running sprints or something? DOES HE PLAY FAVORITES BASED ON HIS MOST LOYAL CUSTOMERS?
This is a tremendous development and I hope we get a television show out of the Ball family’s time in Lithuania. If we do, it needs to have at least one scene where the entire gang heads to the parking lot and buys a few delicious strip steaks from the ol’ ball coach.
