LaVar Ball, the outspoken father of UCLA’s Lonzo Ball, likes to speak his mind. He seemingly never passes up on the opportunity to talk about his talented sons and himself.
But when LaVar speaks, he often makes nonsensical claims that send the basketball world into a frenzy. Here at For The Win, we took a look back at the nonsense and ranked LaVar’s craziest statements.
Follow along if you can handle this heat.
10. “I’ve been coaching them all their lives. I’ve instilled something in them that you can’t take out. Like, ‘No shot is a bad shot.’ ” — March 2016
The Ball brothers (Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo) like to shoot. But this is a bad shot.
9. “If Charles thought like me, maybe he’d win a championship.” — March 2017.
This was LaVar’s response to Charles Barkley, which started a beef with Barkley. I still fail to see how thinking like LaVar Ball would have gotten Barkley an NBA title.
8. “These boys were born to go pro. Your mom’s a P.E. teacher, I’m a personal trainer, your last name is Ball. How much more lined up can you be?” — May 2016
It probably takes more than that.
7. “My son will only play for the Lakers.” — February 2017
This statement raised some eyebrows as it first appeared that LaVar was going to pull an Eli Manning. He quickly backtracked, which made the statement a little less crazy.
6. “We already got our own brand. Triple B’s. Lonzo is going to be the first one drafted with his own brand. That don’t happen.” — February 2017
Um … LeBron James?
5. “You got LeBron, it’s gonna be so hard for his kids, cause they gonna look at them like ‘you gotta be just like your dad.’ ” — March 2017
There is no logic to the argument that LeBron James Jr. won’t be good because his father is LeBron James.
4. “All three of my boys are going to be one-and-done.” — December 2016
Lonzo will go one-and-done for sure. He’s a projected top-5 pick, but LiAngelo and LaMelo still have plenty to prove as basketball prospects. LiAngelo is a three-star recruit and ranked No. 269 in the country, according to 247 Sports. LaMelo is a four-star recruit as a sophomore.
3. “A billion dollars, it has to be there. That’s our number, a billion, straight out of the gate. And you don’t even have to give it to me all up front. Give us $100 mil over 10 years.” — March 2017
This statement could make its case for the top spot because there is absolutely no way he should expect a billion-dollar endorsement contract for his sons. LeBron James’ lifetime deal with Nike is rumored to be worth in the billions, but he’s LeBron James — a future Hall of Famer and basketball icon.
This will never happen. How does he even expect that to happen? No, LaVar.
2. “I’ll tell you right now, he’s better than Steph Curry to me.” — February 2017
“To me ‘Zo is the best player in the world. … I don’t know if he can beat (LeBron James and Russell Westbrook) one on one, but I know he can beat them 5 on 5.” — March 2017
Nope.
Steph Curry is the two-time NBA MVP. LeBron James is the reigning best player in the world. Russell Westbrook is averaging a damn triple-double.
Lonzo Ball is a great player for UCLA, but Steph Curry or LeBron James or Bruins alumnus Russell Westbrook right now on UCLA would be the most absurdly unfair thing to even imagine.
1. “Back in my heyday, I would kill Michael Jordan one-on-one.” — March 2017
Have you stopped laughing yet? OK, good.
LaVar Ball averaged 2 points per game with Washington State before transferring to Division II Cal State Los Angeles. At that same time, Michael Jordan was averaging 35 points per game with the Bulls. He’s a six-time NBA champion and the greatest to ever play.
Plus, LaVar already admitted that he “wasn’t all that.”
LaVar says a lot of crazy things, but this tops them all. Michael Jordan was beating NBA players at age 49. He’d destroy LaVar Ball.
