Lakers Rumors: Lavar Ball Shuts Down Idea of His Son Playing for L.A.
Charlotte Hornets All-Star LaMelo Ball may be one of the NBA’s rising stars, but that doesn’t mean that he’ll be suiting up for the league’s glamor franchise any time soon, at least not if his infamously outspoken dad has anything to say about it.
“Common sense would tell you, hell no,” Lavar Ball said when asked if LaMelo would ever consider playing for the purple and gold. “You did something to my boy Lonzo, and you think I’m going to come back with the others? I gotta be stone-cold crazy.”
Lonzo, LaMelo and middle child LiAngelo were raised in Chino Hills. 6’6” Lonzo, the eldest of the siblings at a creaky 25, enjoyed a terrific one-and-done season at UCLA before declaring for the 2017 draft. L.A.’s then-front office brain trust of Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka (a marriage that aged like fine cheese) opted to select the hometown kid over current leading MVP candidate Jayson Tatum with that year’s second pick. Though Ball played fairly well through his first two seasons, he was ultimately flipped as one of the centerpieces of the trade to the Pelicans that yielded Anthony Davis, and eventually a title, in 2019.
The 6’7” LaMelo was selected with the No. 3 pick in the 2020 draft by Michael Jordan’s Charlotte Hornets. He missed 24 of the team's first 27 contests. Through his eight healthy games in 2022-23, the 21-year-old is averaging 23.4 points on .445/.389/.824 shooting splits, eight assists, 4.4 boards, and 0.9 steals for the 8-24 Hornets.
