Tag Archives: Lavar Ball

Is LaVar Ball Making a Mistake?

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LaVar Ball recently orchestrated a deal for his two youngest sons to play overseas. LiAngelo and LaMelo, 18 and 16 respectively, both signed deals to play basketball in Lithuania. This comes after LiAngelo’s indefinite suspension and withdrawal from UCLA. Many people have voiced their opinions on the Ball family, but this latest decision begs the question: Is this a mistake?

LaVar Ball: Jack of All Trades

The Ball patriarch made headlines when he announced that he was taking LaMelo out of high school. After citing frustration with his son’s coaches and school officials, he decided it was time to take over. Apparently, Chino Hills became full of distractions that Melo didn’t need to put up with. On top of that, the school hired a new basketball coach that ended up ruffling LaVar’s feathers a bit. He vowed that Melo would be homeschooled and trained by him personally, promising us his youngest would be ready for UCLA in two years. Teacher, trainer, coach— does that leave any time for being a parent?

Minimizing ‘Mistakes’

In early November, UCLA and Georgia Tech were in China for an exhibition game. LiAngelo and two of his former UCLA teammates became embroiled in a shoplifting incident. They thought it would be ‘cool’ to take some things from a Louis Vuitton store without paying. Fortunately, they were able to escape the situation after serving 20 days of ‘house arrest’ at the hotel. LaVar minimized his son’s actions from the beginning, saying the situation wasn’t a big deal. He even went as far as to criticize UCLA for the indefinite suspension placed on Gelo. Inevitably, he pulled another child out of school and vowed to have him ready for the NBA.

Lithuania Bound

This week, Melo and Gelo signed their first pro-contract to play in Lithuania. There has been tons of backlash, most notably from former NBA star Charles Barkley. He believes LaVar is exploiting his kids and making everything about the Big Baller Brand. Barkley stated, “I just feel sadness for those kids because they’re gonna do whatever he tells them to do.” On ESPN’s The Jump, Rachel Nichol’s and her guests weighed in on the development factor. Neither of these kids have enough experience to handle this type of situation. In addition, no one believes this move is going to benefit the brother’s development as ball players. In the past, players that do decide to play overseas usually have four years of college under their belt and maybe nth amount of years in the NBA. What can we expect from a former high school student and a college freshman?

Hoping for the Best

I’m not a parent, so I will never judge how someone raises their children. But I will voice a concern for those boys, especially for Melo. At 16 years old, he is in no way ready to live the life of a professional ball player in Lithuania. His brother will be with him but… I don’t know. I’m not so ready to trust someone who steals from foreign countries. Gelo needs to have better judgement than that if he’s going to be entrusted to look after Melo. All in all, I really hope this doesn’t end up being a bust like most people believe. The Ball brothers deserve to have the opportunity play the game they love, despite their father’s disagreeable actions.

Shout out to Tina Ball. I know the thought of her babies playing overseas is a stressful one. Stay strong!

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Why We All Secretly Want Lonzo Ball to Fail

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Despite his struggles and pedestrian stat line, Lonzo Ball isn’t an awful NBA player. But, his performance to date barely justifies a first-round draft pick, certainly not the #2 he was. Anyone can see that he would have benefited from another year playing college ball. That is, if UCLA would have even wanted him and his ridiculous father back.

Tyrannosaurus Dad

LaVar Ball represents everything that is wrong with not only sports parents, but everything else in this country. He is a talentless self-promoter who is more concerned with his own unjustified celebrity than in his children’s success.

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LaVar’s delusions of personal grandeur are well-known by now. He claimed he was a better player than Michael Jordan. He also said he was a better tight end in his brief NFL-Europe career than Gronk. And, he asserts at every turn he can coach better than Steve Alford at UCLA or Luke Walton with the Lakers.

He famously criticized UCLA for surrounding his son with “slow white players”, following their loss to Kentucky in last year’s Sweet 16. After the game, Ball lamented that “realistically you can’t win no championship with three white guys because the foot speed is too slow“. Besides the obvious racist nature of the comment, we should recall that in the game Lonzo was awful. He went 4-10 from the field for 10 points and the guy he was guarding, De’Aaron Fox, put up 39 of Kentucky’s 86 points.

And, of course, there was this timeless classic from his appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd in which he redefined misogyny.

LA Story

For all his many flaws, LaVar Ball did a great job marketing Lonzo to the NBA. He somehow managed to convince the Magic Johnson and the Lakers that Lonzo was something more than an average talent. That takes skill.

Prior to the draft, as he negotiated his way to getting Lonzo picked number two by the Lakers, he assured Magic that his behavior was all an act. It was marketing for his Big Baller Brand and promotion for his kids. Now that Lonzo was in LA, LaVar would tone it down and focus on LaMelo and LiAngelo.

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Considering that he continues to run his mouth criticizing Coach Walton and that the Lakers had to institute the “LaVar Rule” to keep microphones away from him in the aftermath of games, it’s pretty obvious that he has not toned down.

Ball can’t control himself. This is a man who thought he would win a Twitter war with Donald Trump. It’s obviously a psychosis, but it’s mostly our fault. LaVar is a Kardashian. He has neither talent nor substance. He is famous for being famous. Sports talk shows over analyzing his every outlandish comments and immature actions merely propagate his fake celebrity.

Lonzo in Perspective

Lonzo, in a vacuum sans his ridiculous father, seems like an almost likable kid. Almost. To date, he’s averaging 8.6 PPG, 7.1 APG, and 6.8 RPG. Not bad for a rookie. He is, however, an abysmal 47% from the free throw line which might play into why the Lakers don’t want him on the court down the stretch.

Celtics fans, ever willing to take joy in LA’s struggles, take added joy from the fact that Jayson Tatum, taken immediately after Lonzo, is already twice the player Ball will ever be. At 13.8 PPG, 1.3 APG, 5.7 RPG, and 82% from the field and 52% from beyond the 3-point line, Tatum is the clear candidate for Rookie of the Year and a key reason why the Hayward-less Celtics remain in contention.

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Tatum has always been a hardworking, quiet professional, and has risen to the challenge of the NBA. And, we haven’t heard a peep from his parents. Thank you.

On “Lonzo Wednesday” Secondary Storylines Carry More Weight

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LONZO WEDNESDAY

Every year, the Celtics-Lakers match up has at least one game nationally televised. Why? Because it is quite possibly the greatest rivalry in all of sports. Together, the Celtics and Lakers have won 33 out of 71 NBA championships. That’s almost half of the history of this league, chalked up to the dominance of these two franchises. Thanks to Lavar Ball and his marketing schemes, all of that history now falls on the shoulders of Lonzo Ball.

ESPN has dubbed tonight “Lonzo Wednesday”. It didn’t matter to them that the Celtics are going for 10 wins in a row and hold the NBA’s best record. It didn’t matter that this might be the moment this rivalry gets renewed, because of BOTH teams having exciting, youthful talent. But most surprisingly, it didn’t matter to the sports giant that Lonzo is not the most captivating rookie playing in this mid-week rivalry game, and perhaps not even on his own team.

TATUM VS KUZMA

For real hoops fans, this is the most exciting storyline of this game. These two rookies have stood out as some of the brightest from what is looking like a strong 2017 class in the early going. Tatum was taken 3rd overall, and brought some hype and expectations, being such a high lottery pick. He has exceeded what anyone thought he would do in his first year. In all of the shuffling of the starting lineup, Tatum has been a constant. Amazingly, he has shown as much trust in the rookie as anyone, giving him 31.6 minutes per game thus far.

Tatum has been a huge surprise defensively, in the top 15 in the NBA in both defensive win shares & defensive rating. Offensively, he has yet to be fully unleashed, but is finding open looks and knocking down shots efficiently. He is shooting 50% from the field and 52.9% from 3, but is only taking 9.3 shots per game. He has had a couple 20 point games, including the last game in Atlanta. Even though Tatum has had some great games already, I would say he has yet to truly have a breakout game. After passing up a few too many open shots against Atlanta, he should be much more aggressive tonight.

STEAL OF THE DRAFT?

Kyle Kuzma was selected 27th overall, and is already considered the steal of the draft by some. It’s a little early, but through ten games he has established himself as a player that is here to stay. The kid nobody knew before the draft, Kuzma is displaying a wide array of offensive moves. Much like Tatum, he is able to dive deep into his arsenal to score from anywhere on the court. Kuzma has been given the starting nod ahead of Julius Randle in the absence of Larry Nance. He is playing well enough to make the Lakers think twice about sending him back to the bench.

Since this is a smaller lineup for the Lakers, it is possible Tatum starts at the 4. This would put him head-to-head with the rookie that most closely resembles his game. Both of these guys have gone above and beyond expectations set for them already this season. It will be fun to watch the two go at it with such similar styles of play. While Lonzo will be the main storyline ahead of the game, I expect to see the narrative shift to these two rookies by post-game.

WIN STREAK ON THE LINE

Perhaps the headline of this game should be the Celtics putting their win streak on the line. No other team in the NBA has reached 9 wins. The Celtics have put up 9 W’s in a row. On the surface, this looks like an easy one for them. They should be hyped for the game, as they make their return to TD Garden coming off a 3-game road trip. The fans should be equally hyped just to be a part of the win streak and watch the C’s go to work at home for the first time in a week. Translation: the Garden is going to be ROCKING.

We can’t discredit the fact that the Lakers are capable of pulling out a win on any given night. They have talented players that can get hot, paired with veterans to lead them to some extra wins. They have had some exciting moments in their season already and definitely have the building blocks for the future. However, on this night I expect the Celtics to feel a little slighted by the headline. While not typically the way a Brad Stevens team operates, it would be fun to see Kyrie and the other guards feed Tatum heavily to show the world that this night should be dubbed “Tatum Wednesday” if they insist on giving the spotlight to a rookie.

My prediction: Celtics win by 5-10 in a high-scoring game. Tatum steals the show on “Lonzo Wednesday” with his first career 30 point performance.

PREVIEW OF THINGS TO COME?

The Celtics are on the come up, and the Lakers are being sure not to fall too far behind their cross-conference rival. Both teams are plentiful in young players, each with an average age of just over 24. Further, they are talented, high draft picks expected to take their teams places in the future. I can’t stress enough that this is a long way down the road. Likely not until the end of the Warriors dominance, but these two teams are destined to meet each other again in the Finals one day.

Will it be with the cores each have put together now? For a Finals showdown, both teams need to keep their young talent and let them grow together. And then, they actually have to turn in to what they were drafted to be. It is going to be a long road until that day comes, but my guess is next time it happens, there will be a few key players left from the current Celtics and Lakers rosters. Hopefully when that time comes, ESPN again gives the Celtics a little extra motivation by leaving them out of the storyline entirely.

Celtics Must See TV – 2017-2018 Schedule Breakdown

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Now that the on-again, off-again trade finally has closure, and another preseason is among us, the Boston Celtics have yet another new look.   It makes one ponder some of the upcoming dates on the schedule. Which games are must-see TV for Celtics fans? Let’s take a look of what’s to come, shall we?

Celtics Must See TV

October 17th @ Cleveland on TNT – 8:00 PM

Could the season get off to a better start? The Celtics start against the Cavaliers, last year’s Eastern Conference Finals match-up. Coincidentally, these two teams completed a blockbuster deal with each other just a few short weeks before training camp.

While it may be bittersweet to see Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder in Maroon, the drowning out of TNT announcers to the Cavalier fans booing their newest traitor and our newest treasure will be delightful.

November 8th – Los Angeles Lakers on ESPN – 8:00 PM

I do not envision a rebirth of the past rivalry just yet.  But how can you not be interested, even a little, in how Lonzo Ball plays in his first game against the C’s?

Moreover, I can just imagine the buzz around Boston Sports Media and Lavar Ball.  The next coming of Don King in promotion of said event. Not to mention, it is always good to see the Purple and Gold get run out by the Leprechaun.

Christmas Day – Washington Wizards on ABC – 5:30 PM

A little bit of the sting has been taken out of this match-up since the trade of Jae Crowder and Isaiah Thomas to the Cleveland Cavaliers.   The Cavs escalated the battle with the poke/slap fest with John Wall where the Wizards then claimed it was the Celtics Funeral, wearing all black to their next contest.

The seven-game contest in last year’s playoffs is still fresh.  With John Wall claiming the number-one point guard crown, the Kyrie Irving and John Wall competition should make for must-watch television.

The Return

January 3rd, 2018 – Cleveland on ESPN – 8:00 PM

This will be the first return of fan favorites Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder to the Garden. All eyes will be on the diminutive 5′ 9″ guard with the heart and will of a GIANT.

He may not be ready for court action, but one can only imagine a fitting tribute will be played on the jumbotron for Thomas.   In Celtics green, he played with undeniable grit, passion, and fire during a most difficult time in his life and throughout the season.

The accomplishments and impact in Boston, on and off the court will not be forgotten.

February 11th – Cleveland on ABC –  3:30 PM

The game will be second to the retirement ceremony honoring Paul “The Truth” Pierce, number #34 in your program. He will be forever immortalized high in the Garden rafters, in a building where he played so many epic games.  None more memorable than the 2008 Eastern Conference Semis duel between him and King James. Fitting,  LeBron will be on hand.

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Honorable Mention

November 3rd, @ Oklahoma City on ESPN – 9:30 PM

Who doesn’t want to watch the dynamic duo of Russell Westbrook and Paul George with side kick Carmelo Anthony take on the new BIG three incarnation of Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford. Not to mention Marcus Smart shines in his College Alma Mater’s state.

November 16th, Golden State Warriors on TNT – 8:00 PM

This will be a great barometer to see where our new look Celtics really rate compared to undoubtedly the team to beat for coveted Banner 18. I wonder what the clever Boston fans will come up with to play off the Kevin Durant Twitter Saga this summer.

December 20th, Miami Heat – 7:30 PM

Good friend Kelly Olynyk and Jordan Mickey (who?) come back to the Garden. This might be more of my own guilty pleasure. I was big into the #KOHAIRWATCH and although he never excelled to the player we all hoped he’d be consistently (Remember Game seven last year against the Wizards?), it’s hard NOT to like KO.

A Team to Follow Throughout the Year

The Philadelphia 76ers.

With top-pick Markelle Fultz (who everyone in Boston thought was coming here until the infamous trade down to #3) and number-one pick Ben Simmons who face number-three Jayson Tatum and number-three Jaylen Brown a number of times throughout the year, will make for an interesting development to follow.

The reality, if you try really hard, you could make any game worth watching.

The Celtics retooled with dreams of having fireworks this June and a Duck Boat Parade to City Hall. Close your eyes. Can you see the Championship banner waving?

Let me know the games you are looking forward to in the comments. You can find me on twitter @bleedcelticgrn