Now Who Has the Last Laugh?

“If Charles (Barkely) thought like me, he maybe he’d win the championship,”; “Back in my heyday, I’d kill Michael Jordan one-on-one.” “Realistically you can’t win no championship with three white guys because the foot speed is too slow.” “Whose team is it? Man everybody know whose team it is-its Lonzo Ball’s team. LeBron’s coming over here to join us We ain’t goin over there to join him.” These are just a few of the off the wall quotes from Lavar Ball after his son. Lonzo Ball was the second pick in 2017 draft. Many were not fans of Lavar after his interviews and felt it was going to interfere with Lonzo in the NBA with coaches, endorsements, and playing with teammates.

Li’Angelo Ball, the middle son, just recently signed a deal with the Detroit Pistons but he took a different route to the NBA. Out of highschool, he signed a letter of intent to play for UCLA. Days before the season opener in China, Ball and two other teammates was arrested for shoplifting. He was suspended indefinitely from the UCLA program and withdrew from the university. In December 2017, he signed on to play in Prienai, Lithuania alongside his younger brother LaMelo. After signing the brothers, Prienai left the Baltic league to join the Big Baller Brand, founded by none other than Lavar Ball. In 2018, left Lithuania to play for his father’s league, The Junior Basketball Association, an alternative to college. After a year in the JBA, he headed to the G League and signed with the OKC Blue as a practice player but Blue only played one game before COVID hit.

LaMelo ball was recently drafted as the No.3 pick in the 2020 NBA draft. Lonzo and Melo are the first brothers to go in the top 3 of the draft in the NBA. In his junior year in highschool, he left to play professionally.He joined the SPIRE Institute and Academy in Ohio. SPIRE played outside of the Ohio High School Athletic Association. Many teams refused to play SPIRE because of Melo’s professional status. He recorded a 41 point game and lead the teams to the Finals. He was named the season MVP. At the age of 13, he verbally committed to UCLA following in his older brothers footsteps. In 2017, he released a shoe under his family’s brand which threatened his eligibility of the NCAA. After graduating high school, he signed to Prienai with his brother Li’Angelo becoming the youngest player to sign a professional contract.This move sent shockwaves in sports media and trend for more players to follow in his footsteps. He moved around internationally before being drafted this year.

Lavar Ball worked hard to make sure he set his sons up for a future in professional basketball and many doubted his ways BUT he now has all three sons in the NBA gearing up to play in the upcoming NBA season.

Guess he had the last laugh.