Much like a basketball and the Earth we occupy currently hurling us through space, the drama around LaVar Ball continues to spin. On Thursday, Ball did another thing to disrupt an AAU game his Big Ballers were involved in.
Ball asked for and got a female referee replaced mid-game on Friday morning after the official levied a technical foul on him. The Big Baller patriarch had already pulled his team off the court and forfeited a game after a technical foul at a tournament in Anaheim, California earlier this week. So this was a request that was not taken lightly.
LaVar Ball just picked up a technical. Points to the ref and looks at the crowd, "We need to get someone else in here."
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) July 28, 2017
Apparently Ball and the unnamed female referee have some kind of history, enough so that it actually disrupted the adidas Uprising championships. Eventually, after a delay, the official was indeed replaced by another arbiter of basketball rules and regulations. And adidas took credit for replacing the ref after the game.
Adidas said it was their decision to replace the referee. Said there was a history between ref and LaVar — she officiated Wednesday's game.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) July 28, 2017
Whatever the reason for acquiescing and replacing the ref, it’s not like any of this is particularly surprising considering Ball’s tenuous relationship with women in basketball and his history of saying and doing things that garner attention while the cameras are rolling. Here’s a great shot of the camera crew taking it all in as Ball soaks in his drama.
Major stall in the Big Ballers' game. Docuseries crew on floor, LaVar waiting, watching–after he again tried to take his team off the floor pic.twitter.com/0PxnHKD9Oe
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) July 28, 2017
Ball’s son LaMelo had 38 points on 13 of 31 from the floor in a 111-102 win on Thursday. But the big story, as always, lies with LaVar. The media spectacle that is LaVar Ball is, at times, endlessly fascinating. Then there are the obvious moments where it all seems so transparently fake, like when he talks about “raggity-ass refs” one moment and then advertises his Big Baller Brand pop-up shop the next. This is probably somewhere in between: a controversy for controversy’s sake that may have a hint of truth to it.
Ball was on-brand in speaking about the incident on Friday, once again evoking the “stay in your lane” mantra he often dishes out with women.
LaVar Ball to ESPN after the game on the referee: "She's got a vendetta. She needs to stay in her lane because she ain't ready for this."
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) July 28, 2017
Maybe Ball and the official really do have some history. It doesn’t really matter. At this point, it’s a matter of time before we all have history with LaVar Ball.
