Sports

I Couldn’t Be A Bigger Fan Of Lavar Ball

Lavar Ball (Credit: Getty Images/Mike Stobe)

David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
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Lavar Ball is quickly becoming one of the biggest names in basketball, and it’s making some people very unhappy.

His loudmouth antics are grabbing the news headlines with outrageous statements and actions, such as walking his team off of the court after he was given a technical foul while coaching a summer league game.

This has led to pieces from ESPN and SB Nation about how the father of Los Angeles Lakers rookie point Lonzo Ball is nothing more than a misogynist.

There were also plenty of hot takes on Twitter. When the outrage machine gets fired up it’s always a safe bet Twitter will deliver.

Am I the only one who sees this circus for what it is? A year ago very few people outside of the basketball world knew of Lonzo Ball. Now he’s extremely popular and was the second overall pick for the Lakers. Of course playing for UCLA had a large part to do with his rapid rise through the ranks.

However, his father’s hype machine is straight out of the WWE, where the family also made a recent appearance. It’s all a show for ratings, and everybody is taking the bait. I have no idea what Lavar Ball believes in his heart or truly thinks in his head. I only know that he is a ratings machine. He is a self-made man who put one son in the NBA, another one at UCLA and the youngest is a top-20 player in America.

Not the worst case scenario for a man with three sons. The problem is that in modern society everybody takes stuff so seriously. There is no room for comedy, parody or getting a little obnoxious. Those three things sum up what Lavar and his whole family represent. The guy performed at WWE. How can you possibly see that and not realize this has all been an insanely successful PR stunt?

I disagree with some of the stuff Lavar says. Some of it crosses the line, but almost all of it is hilarious. I’m also not going to frown on a father who has raised three widely successful sons in a day and age where finding good fathers seems to be increasingly harder by the minute.

I tip my cap to Lavar and his family. I can’t wait to watch this rodeo for the next decade.

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