Adam Silver thinks LaVar Ball will settle down after NBA draft
By Brian Gosa
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is hopeful that LaVar Ball will relax after his son is drafted.
Adam Silver is not concern about LaVar Ball, at least not for now. In an interview with ESPN’s Mike and Mike Radio Show on Wednesday, the NBA commissioner said he thinks LaVar Ball will “settle down” once his son Lonzo Ball is picked in this month’s NBA draft. From the opening tip of the 2017 basketball season, the verbose, heavily animated patriarch of the Ball family has gone to great lengths to bring attention to himself and his highly talented son.
The NBA commissioner called the elder Ball’s promotional skills “quite incredible”.
And while LaVar should be given full credit for keeping Lonzo Ball and the Big Baller Brand in the headlines on a regular basis, there are still questions of whether his outbursts are actually hurting his son’s chances of success in the league. It is highly possible that some teams could choose to distance themselves from Lonzo, and steer clear of having to deal with a potential PR nightmare in the form of LaVar Ball.
However, the consensus to this point suggests that Lonzo’s draft status won’t be affected, and it is expected that he will be taken with the first or second pick when the draft rolls around on June 22.
Silver agreed that NBA teams will ultimately be more concerned with Lonzo’s game than his father’s actions. “I think here, if I were an NBA team looking at Lonzo Ball, I’m not sure how much consideration I would give to his father. I think ultimately the issue is, how much game does Lonzo have, how great a player can he be.”
Next: 30 best shots in NBA playoffs history
“I think his dad will invariably settle down once his son is drafted and a team has the appropriate discussions with him. So I’m not concerned about that,” Silver said.
Let’s hope the commissioner is right on this one.