In case you didn’t know who LaVar Ball was before, I can assure you, after this coming weekend, you’ll end up hearing so much about him that you may end up getting sick of the NCAA’s most infamous basketball dad.
After all, it’s inevitable when everything the man says seems to spark some controversy or the other.
From him saying his son Lonzo, a freshman star at UCLA, is better than two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry right now, to calling out basketball hall-of-famer Charles Barkley and telling him, “if [he] thought like me, maybe he’d win a championship,” Ball isn’t one to shy away from a microphone.
Now add demanding a $1-billion sponsorship deal with Nike— and claiming he could beat Michael Jordan in a one-on-one basketball game, “back in [his] heyday.”
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Speaking to USA Today, Ball, an extremely proud father, outright mandated Nike to give his three sons a $1-billion deal.
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“A billion dollars, it has to be there,” Ball said. “That’s our number, a billion, straight out of the gate. And you don’t even have to give it to me all up front. Give us $100 mil over 10 years.”
[cite]- USA Today[/cite]
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In addition to Lonzo, a projected top-3 pick in this year’s NBA draft, Ball has two other sons who have also committed to UCLA, LiAngelo – who scored 72 points in a high school game – and, the youngest, LaMelo – who one-upped his brother with a 92-point effort in February. The success his three sons have enjoyed have seemed to have left Ball convinced they will all go on to become superstars in the NBA at some point and demand that kind of endorsement deal.
Even more outlandish, still, Ball, an accomplished athlete having played college football at Washington State and Cal State Los Angeles before playing professionally for the London Monarchs in the now-defunct World League of American Football (later known as NFL Europe), actually believes he could’ve beat Jordan, in a game of one-on-one.
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“Back in my heyday, I would kill Michael Jordan one-on-one,” said Ball, the 49-year-old basketball dad who is 6-6 and 270 pounds and has a mouth to match his size.
[cite]- USA Today[/cite]
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“I would just back (Jordan) in and lift him off the ground and call a foul every time he fouls me when I do a jump hook to the right or the left,” Ball said. “He cannot stop me one-on-one. He better make every shot ’cause he can’t go around me. He’s not fast enough. And he can only make so many shots outside before I make every bucket under the rim.”
[cite]- USA Today[/cite]
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“Now in a game of five-on-five, (Jordan) might do some damage, but I’m going to do some damage too,” Ball added.
[cite]- USA Today[/cite]
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Crazy his statements may sound, but it isn’t like Ball is talking without some experience. He played basketball for Washington State. He just wasn’t, you know, good.
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It’s worth noting that Ball played basketball for Washington State during the 1987-88 season and averaged 2.2 points, 2.3 rebounds a game before transferring to Cal-State Los Angeles in search of more playing time. Jordan, meanwhile, averaged 35 points and 5.5 rebounds for the Chicago Bulls that same season and is widely regarded as the greatest player in basketball history.
[cite]- USA Today[/cite]
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Ball, if anything, is a real character and personality and he will be inescapable come this Thursday onwards. Remember, the tournament hasn’t even really begun in earnest yet and he’s already giving us these nuggets. Imagine what he’ll say if Lonzo ends up going off for a huge game this weekend?
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