Charles Barkley and LaVar Ball haven’t been sparring much through the media lately, but that sure seems like it’s about to change.
Fresh off a major political victory in his home state of Alabama, Barkley doubled down on his feud with LaVar Ball by getting a bit personal and saying he’s “exploiting” his kids for money.
LaVar Ball was on hand on Tuesday as Lonzo made his Madison Square Garden debut against the Knicks, thoroughly enjoying a Lonzo alley-oop and sparring a bit with Spike Lee. Barkley said he “loves” Lonzo Ball, but is worried the two Ball kids he’s less familiar with — LiAngelo and LaMelo — are being taken advantage of.
Barkley spoke about the Ball family on Wednesday when he appeared on ESPN’s Golic and Wingo and expressed concern about Ball’s handling of his sons basketball careers.
“I just feel bad for this kids,” Barkley said. “Because everybody talks about ‘He might be a good father,’ this and that. No he’s not. He’s just exploiting his kids.”
Barkley went on to say that his attention is on his brand and making money because he doesn’t have any talent of his own, and he worries his kids will do whatever he says — moving to Lithuania for example — because he’s their father.
“He’s all about Big Baller Brand. He has no (perceivable) talents. He’s trying to make money on his kids. And I just feel sadness for those kids because they’re going to do whatever he tells them to do. I just don’t like the guy at all. Plain and simple. And don’t tell me he’s a good father. Just because you exploit you’re kids trying to make money because you have no talent that does not make you a good father.”
Ball will, almost certainly, hear about these comments and respond. He’ll say that Barkley brings his name up because it’s good for Barkley to get his name in the news, and that all of this is good for his brand. And maybe all of it is true.
But it’s also possible that Chuck is genuinely worried about the Ball boys and what all this is doing to them. Often with these stories there’s a bit of truth hidden in what will soon grow well beyond that initial nugget. And just because the story will grow well past its origin, it doesn’t make that truth wrong.
