In case you have been lucky enough to be living under a rock for the last 15 months, there is an overbearing parent named LaVar Ball that has a few sons that play basketball.
Wait, that was too much of an understatement.
LaVar Ball has dominated the headlines with asinine comments in order to keep his basketball-playing sons relevant.
His oldest son, Lonzo Ball, played for UCLA last season and was victimized by De’Aaron Fox in multiple match-ups against the Kentucky Wildcats. He had another son, LiAngelo, that unceremoniously left his UCLA squad a few weeks ago.
Since Kentucky will face off against the Bruins yet again on Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic, John Calipari spoke about he owner/operator of Big Baller Brand in his Thursday press conference to preview the big game. Specifically, he was responding to how he would deal with a father like Ball as a coach.
“Don’t know. If I were in that situation, I would have to think about it. One thing I do want you all to understand is: the way he presents stuff, maybe I don’t agree with; but what I do love is he loves his sons. He is a father who loves, loves his sons. And you’ve gotta respect that. There are many kids out there who would love to have a father who paid that much attention to him. So, how he presents some things, maybe I don’t agree with. But there are some other people in the country presenting things in ways that I don’t agree with either.”
You could not blame Calipari if he bashed Ball, like so many others have. It is hard to tell whether he was taking the high road to avoid negative publicity or if he really respects Ball’s efforts to advocate for his son’s.
Calipari was not asked about Ball’s proposed Junior Basketball Association that would allow players straight out of high school to make some money in preparing for the NBA. Although, he has spoken publicly about how other semi-pro leagues would have a negative effect on many young players.
Do you buy what Calipari had to say about LaVar Ball?