In case you are one of the lucky few that has somehow avoided it to this point, LaVar Ball (basketball dad extraordinaire) and Donald Trump (the president) are feuding over the lack of thanks from the former to the latter regarding the avoidance of prison time in China for LiAngelo Ball.
While that sentence reads like the worst MadLibs ever, it’s a factual statement. Trump is mad at LaVar Ball for not being grateful enough and thanking him for working with the Chinese government to speed up the process of getting LiAngelo and his UCLA teammates back out of the country after their arrest for shoplifting. LiAngelo and the UCLA players thanked Trump and the U.S. government in a press conference, but LaVar shrugged off how much Trump’s involvement helped, leading to another angry tweet from the president about how he should’ve left them in Chinese prison.
LaVar Ball then ended up doing a CNN interview that went completely off the rails as Chris Cuomo had no idea how to rein in Ball. The two argued about the semantics of thanking another person and when it’s appropriate to do (or not do) so, with Ball insisting he shouldn’t have to thank Trump. If all of that wasn’t bizarre enough, poor LeVar Burton (Star Trek cast member, Reading Rainbow host) has now found himself involved because people are confusing their LaVar/LeVar’s.
Burton pointed out an angry Twitter mention he received from a Trump supporter on Tuesday following Ball’s CNN interview, noting that it’s one of “many” he’s received since the Ball-Trump feud started.
One of many sleights I am having to endure these days. Thanks! @Lavarbigballer… #bydhttmwfi https://t.co/uYkoDOV6yZ
— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) November 21, 2017
@levarburton You're a has been actor with a thief for a son and Trump is the president of the United States. Get the picture?
— markconte (@proseman) November 21, 2017
While there aren’t a lot of famous LaVar/LeVar’s and confusing the spelling might happen, it’s incredible that people are confusing LaVar Ball with LeVar Burton, for so many reasons. The similarities between the two seem to end with their first name and last initial, although you could make an argument both are responsible for people wanting to read more — Burton through the great Reading Rainbow and Ball by people wanting to avoid watching TV cause he might be on.
Anyways, we were curious to see if we could find any more people confusing Burton for Ball and ran across a couple more angry Trump supporters in his mentions.
https://twitter.com/kglass1957/status/932990756909912065
https://twitter.com/Jamieboy05/status/932812599539970048
There was also one person who decided to defend the first tweet as factual for some unknown reason.
Washed up actor – Check
Son caught stealing in China – Check
Trump still president – Check
But none of that is true huh?… lol
— Lil Popsicle🔺🔺🔺 (@Lil_Popsicle) November 21, 2017
Anyways, LeVar Burton is not LaVar Ball. Please respect him, because Reading Rainbow is still the most important television show of my (and many children of the era’s) childhood. I have no Star Trek feelings, but people like him for that too. LeVar seems like a genuinely nice guy so please check the Twitter handle before getting mad at Big Baller Basketball Dad.
