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LaVar Ball doesn’t think LiAngelo will make the NBA

By Clevis Murray

Mar 4, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Lavar Ball, father of UCLA Bruins guard Lonzo Ball (2), looks on in the stands before the game between the UCLA Bruins and the Washington State Cougars at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 4, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Lavar Ball, father of UCLA Bruins guard Lonzo Ball (2), looks on in the stands before the game between the UCLA Bruins and the Washington State Cougars at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports /
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LaVar Ball isn’t scared to speak his mind and be opinionated, even if it’s keeping it real with his own family. Father Ball recently said he doesn’t see LiAngelo making it to the NBA, but could be a model if basketball doesn’t work.

LaVar Ball is the epitome of tough love, from handling his sons in private to coming at his AAU team during a half-time speech. The man is pure entertainment and honesty, regardless of who you are. In an interview by Zach Baron of GQ, father Ball relayed he doesn’t think his middle son, LiAngelo, will make it to the NBA.

"I told my boys that one of them wasn’t going to make it. Because if you’ve got three, only one, maybe two make it to the NBA.” He says, right in front of everyone, that he thinks it’ll be his middle son, LiAngelo, who doesn’t make it. He says he’s told him that. “He’s going to be taken care of either way,” he says. At least Gelo is the handsomest of his sons, he says—if basketball doesn’t work out, maybe he could be a model."

LiAngelo has been viewed as the least talented Ball in comparison to his eldest and NBA-bound brother Lonzo, along with the youngest of the Ball family, LaMelo, who is viewed as a 5-star recruit. LaVar believes LaMelo “has the most star power” of all the Ball brothers.

LiAngelo, at 6-foot-5, 220-pounds, could be the best scorer of all the best brothers, despite all the flack he gets from the outside world. During the 2016-17 season, he had games of 72, 65 and 56 points. He did that on the No. 2 high school team in the nation, behind Washington’s Nathan Hale.

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Along with his scoring outbursts, LiAngelo is a match-up problem with his size and shooting ability. He might not be a one-and-done player like Lonzo, but ruling him out of a possible NBA future might be done too early in his development. He hasn’t played a game at UCLA and already his pro future is in doubt. Sounds similar to a former 3-star recruit from UCLA — Russell Westbrook?

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