Though things would eventually quiet down as the season went on, LaVar Ball, father of Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball, made plenty of headlines over the past year.
The biggest of these came during the worst spell of the season for the Lakers when LaVar criticized head coach Luke Walton. The front office contingent of Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka reportedly asked LaVar to cease with his criticisms, but that didn’t stop him from speaking his mind again.
Johnson and Pelinka always remained silent on any of LaVar’s criticisms and reports have always been that the sides have a good relationship.
LaVar recently appeared on ESPN L.A. Radio with Marcellus Wiley and Travis Rodgers and said he loves Magic and Rob because of the open conversations they can have:
“I love Magic and Rob for one reason, man. I can talk to them down to earth. They’re not going to try to switch things around. They’re going to listen to what I’m saying. I’m going to listen to what they’re saying.”
LaVar went on to put blame on the media for misconstruing things and making stories out of them:
“What happens is, things get misconstrued outside. This sells better: ‘What is Magic going to tell LaVar?!’ He’s not going to tell me nothing. I’m a grown a** man. What am I going to tell Magic? I’m not going to tell him nothing. He’s a business man. He runs this thing the way he runs it. All I can have is a little input here and there. He can ask me a question and I can answer it. I’m not trying to tell them how to run their job, but I can give them input on how I’ve coached my boys for 15 years. Take a little bit of stuff that I know about my boys and use that to your advantage.”
When the Lakers drafted Lonzo, it was well known that his father and everything that comes with him is along for the ride. Quite simply, the Lakers signed up for this and now have to deal with everything that comes their way.
Ideally, LaVar would choose his words wisely as they can undoubtedly put his son in unenviable positions that he doesn’t need to be in. But at this point it’s pretty safe to say that LaVar is going to keep saying whatever he feels like.
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