During the 2018-19 NBA trade deadline with the Los Angeles Lakers, Lonzo Ball was involved in the Anthony Davis trade discussions with the New Orleans Pelicans.
While Ball wanted to remain with the Lakers, his camp reportedly did not want him to be traded to the Pelicans as the Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns were interested.
However, four months later, Ball was included in the Davis trade along with Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and draft picks.
As LaVar Ball was at the Drew League when the Davis trade was announced, he shared his initial thoughts about the Lakers, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN:
“I guarantee: Like I say again, it will be the worst move the Lakers ever did in their life and they will never win another championship,” LaVar Ball told ESPN while at the Drew League on Saturday to watch his son LaMelo play. “Guarantee it.”
Ball believes the Lakers have ‘completely crashed’ by trading his son after just two seasons, according to Youngmisuk:
“They’re going to regret it. I’m going to have fun with it. Because I told you all, it was crashing down. Now [the Lakers] completely crashed, but at least my son got off the boat before the thing exploded. I gave them a chance. You can rewind it and go back. I said if you get the three Ball brothers, you can survive this. You let him go, oh, it’s going to be a cold day in hell. Trust and believe that.”
For a generational player like Davis, the Lakers did trade away significant assets for him. While there are debates about Ball, he showed flashes of his All-Star potential — especially with his playmaking and defense.
At the end of the day, only time will tell if the Lakers made the right decision. As Davis fulfills the team’s short- and long-term goals, the Pelicans have quickly established a young core that is capable of winning in 2-3 seasons.
With the Lakers determined to end their six-year playoff drought and win a championship for the first time in 10 seasons, Ball will look to prove them wrong now.