LaVar Ball says all three of his sons will play for the Los Angels Lakers, and the result will be a bevy of championships. The loudest man in Chino Hills gave a wide-ranging interview to ESPN where he said, among other things, that his sons would all play for the Lakers after a season with the UCLA Bruins.
Ball also discussed the condition of his wife, Tina, who had a stroke in February and is back home recovering. In talking about his sons, though, Ball went well beyond the destiny of his eldest, Lonzo, who is likely headed for the Lakers as the second overall pick in this month’s NBA Draft.
Though the article noted that Liangelo—a freshman at UCLA this fall—isn’t on the draft board of various unnamed NBA executives, Ball said son will be one-and-done and test the NBA waters once he gets through a year of college.
“All my boys are gonna be one-and-done. Gelo [LiAngelo] is going [to] be one-and-done whether he’s good or bad,” LaVar said. “I’m going to put him in the draft, hope they don’t take him. Bring him into the Lakers as a free agent, let him wind up with his brother and watch how good they play together.”
In fact, Ball hopes to put his youngest son—a 10th grader at Chino Hills—on the Lakers as well.
“I’m going to do the same thing with Melo,” LaVar said. “And we get three of the Ball boys on the Lakers together, and we gonna go championship, championship, championship, championship, championship. You think I’m playing? You saw what they did in high school.”
The interview also had some weird moments where Ball explored the ways he’s disciplined his sons over the years, including “a couple of hits upside the head” or “a belt or something.”
Ball later clarified remarks he made during the interview, saying that he has spanked each son once in their lives — and that has instilled a sense of fear so that he hasn’t needed to do it again.
“I spanked them once,” Ball said, “to let them know there are repercussions at times. But my boys are respectful, and usually my voice is enough.”
Um, OK?
The piece had the usual bluster and bravado of Ball but also the strange statements about the various areas of parenting that get people talking. He made an awkward joke about the sons disrespecting his wife as a lesson that he’s raising them the right way, but it came off clunky.
Some feel he’s taking the wrong approach with his sons but one thing is clear—he’s raising all three the same way regardless of which one is more talented in the floor.
