If you think the LaVar Ball saga of the NBA is too much now, it’s only just beginning. Ball’s eldest son Lonzo is expected to be a top-2 pick in next month’s NBA Draft, and while his son is doing his talking off the court, LaVar continues to do the talking off of it.
Last week, Cavs’ guard Kyrie Irving joined the Road Trippin’ Podcast with Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye, and host Allie Clifton to discuss a number of topics, including Ball and his impact on his son.
“I’m sorry, LaVar, you’re not going to be in every hotel room that Lonzo is going to be in,” Kyrie said as a guest on Uninterrupted’s “Road Trippin'” podcast with RJ and Channing. “You’re not going to be everywhere and part of his life as he continues to grow up. You got to let go. He’s 19-years old. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want it to bypass him being a father, but he’s got to let Lonzo be Lonzo for the long haul.”
Irving even added that he had a talk with his own father upon turning 18 and being drafted into the NBA.
“I had to have a talk with my dad and I was just like, ‘Man, Dad, I love you but I’m going to make my own decisions,'” Irving said. “And he told me, when I turn 18, I’m responsible enough for myself to make my own decisions and he’s going to be there to help along the way. But when I turned 18, like, I got my first tattoo. I got my ear pierced. I just started doing my own thing.”
Irving isn’t the only one who feels this way, as much of the public also feels that LaVar is overbearing and putting way too much pressure on his son. Ball joined Undisputed on Fox Sports One where he discussed a number of topics, including Irving’s comments about him and his son.
“You have some young people that’s out here critiquing,” said Ball. “‘Oh LaVar needs to let Lonzo go.’ How you young guys gonna say anything when you ain’t got no kids?”
“Like Kyrie?” asks Skip Bayless.
“Kyrie, Definitely!” Ball responds. “How you gonna tell me how my son should be when you don”t have a kid?”
It seems like Ball didn’t know, and to anyone else who didn’t: Irving actually does have a baby daughter who will be two years old this November.
Ball continues to talk, but doesn’t seem to see or hear anyone else’s views but his own (although, that really shouldn’t surprise everyone after the last couple of outspoken months). At one point, however, he goes as far as bringing up Irving’s late mother, who passed away when he was a child, and that very well may have been a line LaVar should not have crossed.
“Like Kyrie, he’s in a different situation,” added Ball. “So you cant put yourself in the same situation as Lonzo. I have a wife and two other sons. You not in that situation.
“Maybe he don’t have the relationship that me and ‘Zo got. And I don’t think he did. First of all, ya mom wasn’t there, so something’s got to change right there. It’s not the same. Lonzo can come home and see his mom all the time.”
Irving’s comments on the podcast came from a place of experience as well as wanting to give advice considering he was a number one overall pick with a lot of hype and a father he is really close to. Irving’s full comments from the podcast can be seen here. Ball doesn’t know Irving’s story, and shouldn’t comment on anything he doesn’t know about, especially someone close to him who has passed away. That’s just what I think.
You can watch the full video with his comments below.
LaVar Ball responded to #Cavs Kyrie Irving's comments from the Road Trippin' Podcast. Little does he know Irving actually is a father. pic.twitter.com/ON5WgSbmks
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) May 17, 2017