LaVar Ball doesn’t think new NBA Draft rules will kill JBA

LaVar Ball is nothing if not outspoken, but not even the NBA can crush his dreams of making JBA into something special.

It’s impossible to talk about LaVar Ball without wondering why we’re doing so in the first place. Like how the seasons change, talking about Ball during the summer months seems like an annual thing.

Some things have changed, like how Lonzo is now in the NBA and has a promising future next to LeBron James. Other things have stayed the same, like LaVar hustling his latest entrepreneurial exercise. Last year it was the hype about the launch of Big Baller Brand, which fizzled as expected. This time around it’s JBA: Ball’s attempt to offer an alternate path to the NBA without having to go through the college ranks.

With the NBA changing its one-and-done rule in the future to allow high school seniors to become eligible for the draft, it might reduce the need for something like the JBA.

But, of course, LaVar isn’t concerned about that.

“Let’s say you get 10 players that are one and done, what are you gonna do with the other 5,000? JBA is in effect, we’re not going nowhere.”

As with everything LaVar, his words are up to interpretation. While on the one hand, he’s offering kids a chance to pursue their NBA future, he seems to be doing so by discounting education.

“This allows them [to pursue a basketball career] without having to pass a chemistry test or a Spanish test,” Ball said of why the JBA exists. “To say I’ve been playing basketball all my life but can’t play just because I can’t focus in class shouldn’t be the case.”

While LaVar raises a valid point regarding college athletics, forgoing the experience entirely to play in LaVar’s experimental league is a big risk to take for players trying to turn basketball into a career.