Noted sports father LaVar Ball has a strange theory. Ok, he has a lot of strange theories – he thinks he could beat peak Michael Jordan in 1-on-1 – but only one led to a warning from LeBron James.
Ball believes that the success or failure that the son of an NBA player has in the league is related to the amount of success their father had. During a cameo on Chris Broussard’s podcast, Ball specifically mentioned Steph Curry and Kobe Bryant as the sons of former NBA players who were never superstars. For that reason, they never had to live up to the high bar set by their fathers, which led to them being greats.
On the flip side, Ball mentioned LeBron’s two sons as kids who may be doomed because of the success their father had.
“You got LeBron, it’s going to be hard for his kids because they are going to look at them like, ‘You got to be just like your dad,'” Ball said. “And after a while, that pressure starts sitting on you like, ‘Why do I got to be just like him? What can’t I just be me?’ And then they are going to be like, ‘Aw, you’re soft, you’re not that good.’ Because the expectation is very, very high.”
This actually isn’t too crazy of a theory – during his Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Jordan famously said to his children “You guys have a heavy burden. I wouldn’t want to be you guys if I had to.” But there is a big difference between saying something like that to your kids and saying that about someone else’s kids.
That distinction led to LeBron telling Ball to not mention his sons, LeBron Jr. and Bryce. James issued the warning to Ball through ESPN.
“Keep my kids’ name out of your mouth, keep my family out of your mouth,” James told ESPN on Tuesday, as the Cavaliers practiced on UCLA’s campus, two days after a victory at the Lakers.
“This is dad to dad. It’s a problem now.”
…
“He can talk all about his brand, talk about his sons, talk about basketball, talk about me,” James told ESPN. “But keep my family out of this.”
LeBron was asked about Ball’s oldest son, Lonzo, who is currently tearing it up for UCLA during the NCAA Tournament. He praised the Bruins’ floor general, saying “I actually like his son. I like his game.”
If there’s one thing we know about LaVar Ball, it’s that a response to this probably isn’t too far around the corner.
(Via ESPN)
