It seems much of the basketball world is growing tired of LaVar Ball and now you can add LeBron James to that group.
The Cleveland Cavaliers superstar responded to Ball, the outspoken father of three budding basketball stars, including UCLA freshman Lonzo Ball. Ball recently said his children are poised for better future success than James’s kids.
“Keep my kids’ name out of your mouth. Keep my family out of your mouth,” James told ESPN. “This is dad-to-dad. It’s a problem now.”
James’s elder son, 12-year-old LeBron James Jr., has garnered much attention for his play on the court. Younger sibling Bryce Maximus James, 9, is also attracting interest.
Meanwhile, Ball’s children are generating their own hype — Lonzo is a projected top-two pick in the upcoming NBA draft, while LiAngelo and LaMelo are still in high school, but have already committed to UCLA upon graduation.
“You got LeBron, it’s going to be hard for his kids because they are going to look at them like, ‘You got to be just like your dad,’” Ball, who spent time on NFL practice squads in the 1990s, said this month. “And after a while, that pressure starts sitting on you like, ‘Why do I got to be just like him? What can’t I just be me?’ And then they are going to be like, ‘Aw, you’re soft, you’re not that good.’ Because the expectation is very, very high.”
Ball is becoming known for his at-times outlandish comments, including his claim he could beat Michael Jordan in a game of one-on-one, that Lonzo is better than Steph Curry, criticism of Charles Barkley and his demand of a $1-billion sponsorship deal with Nike.
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