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LaVar Ball

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LaVar Ball
Personal information
Born: (1968-10-23) October 23, 1968 (age 56)
Los Angelos, California
Height:6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight:320 lb (145 kg)
Career information
High school:Canoga Park (CA)
College:Cal State–Los Angeles
Position:Quarterback
Undrafted:1995
Career history

LaVar Ball (born October 23, 1968) is a retired American football player. He played professionally with the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football (WLAF) and was a practice squad member of the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers in the National Football League (NFL). A native of California, Ball attended Canoga Park High School in Los Angeles before playing basketball at Washington State and Cal State Los Angeles.

Ball is the father of UCLA basketball player Lonzo Ball and Chino Hills High School basketball players LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball. He drew widespread media attention upon his sons' rise to popularity in 2016 and due to a series of controversial claims he made in 2017.[1][2][3] Currently, he is the owner of Big Baller Brand.[4] all in all, general asshole

Early life

Ball was a multi-sport athlete at Canoga Park High School (pictured).

Ball was born on October 23, 1968 and was brought up in South Los Angeles, California.[5][6] He has four brothers, named LaFrance, LaValle, LaRenzo, and LaShon.[6] LaVar attended Canoga Park High School in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, where he was a prominent quarterback on the football team and played basketball as a forward.[7][8] In one season, Ball grabbed a total of 316 rebounds to break the school record.[8] He stood 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) and weighed 225 lbs (102 kg) by college.[7]

College career

Ball first began playing college basketball at West Los Angeles College despite having little experience at the prep level. In the season opener in 1986, he recorded 33 points and 18 rebounds against Porterville College.[8] Ball then transferred to Washington State and became a starting forward.[9] In 36 games for the Cougars, he averaged 2.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game.[10] After one season, Ball transferred again to Cal State Los Angeles, who competed in the NCAA Division II.[11]

Football career

Following college, Ball was invited to a football tryout and eventually made a return to the sport.[1] On March 7, 1995, he signed with the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) as a tight end and was immediately loaned to the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football (WLAF).[12] In the 1995 season for the Monarchs, Ball recorded 28 yards in kick returns.[13] During his NFL career, he was also a part of the practice squads of the Jets and Carolina Panthers.[14]

Personal

Ball's sons have attended Chino Hills High School in Chino Hills, California (pictured).

After his youngest son LaMelo reached four years of age, Ball began training all of his sons to play basketball.[6] They were taught many skills by their father and later played for his Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team, Big Ballers VXT.[11] For a relatively short period of time in their childhoods, LaVar also had them play flag football, with Lonzo playing quarterback and his other sons catching passes.[6] Following an illustrious career at Chino Hills High School in Chino Hills, California, Lonzo became a star at UCLA. LaVar's younger sons play at the same high school and are both committed to UCLA.[15]

Criticism

Ball has often received criticism of his influence on the family's public image for making controversial comments. In early March 2017, he remarked that Lonzo was a better player than Stephen Curry.[16] Later in the month, he asserted that Lonzo was better than LeBron James and Russell Westbrook.[17] On March 14, despite having averaged only 2.2 points per game at Washington State, he said, "Back in my heyday, I would kill Michael Jordan one-on-one."[18][19] Charles Barkley responded to the claims and challenged Ball to play one-on-one.[20] LaVar additionally said that he believed his three sons would be worth $1 billion for a shoe deal.[21] USA Today labeled his comments as an "endless string of interviews full of cocky claims and premature promises, coupled with insults."[22] Steve Kerr praised LaVar for gaining publicity but questioned his effect on his sons.[23] On Twitter, many users mocked Ball's perceivably exaggerated claims by using the hashtag "LaVar Ball Says" and making their own such statements.[24]

LaVar Ball vs. Michael Jordan Statistics in 1987–88 season[25][10]
Player Team League GP FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
LaVar Ball Washington State Pac-10 26 .404 .000 .450 2.3 1.0 0.4 0.1 2.2
Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls NBA 82 .535 .132 .841 5.5 5.9 3.2 1.6 35.0

References

  1. ^ a b Calle, Franklyne (August 4, 2016). "Ball Is Life". Slam Online. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  2. ^ "LaVar Ball: I prefer Lonzo with Lakers to learn from Magic Johnson". ESPN. February 27, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  3. ^ Boone, Kyle (February 28, 2017). "Lonzo Ball's father compares son's branding power to Michael Jordan, Nike". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  4. ^ Rovell, Darren (March 14, 2017). "LaVar Ball wants to package 3 sons for $1 billion shoe deal". ESPN. Retrieved March 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  5. ^ "LaVar Ball". The Football Database. Retrieved March 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  6. ^ a b c d Stephens, Mitch (March 26, 2016). "The Architect: Father of the Ball brothers speaks about growth of Chino Hills". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved March 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  7. ^ a b Ripton, Ray (November 23, 1989). "Junior Colleges: Fast Food-Like Coaching : Basketball: As soon as coaches stuff the players with knowledge of the sport, they're on their way". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  8. ^ a b c Ripton, Ray (December 4, 1986). "When It Comes to Basketball, Oilers Could Be Contenders, but the Corsairs Look Like Champs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  9. ^ Dodds, Tracy (January 28, 1988). "UCLA Takes On a Surprising Washington State Team Tonight at Pauley". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  10. ^ a b "LaVar Ball". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  11. ^ a b Kartje, Ryan (March 13, 2017). "The Ballfather: LaVar Ball and his 3 sons intend to change basketball forever". Orange County Register. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  12. ^ "Transactions". The New York Times. March 7, 1995. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  13. ^ "LaVar Ball Statistics". JustSportsStats.com. Retrieved March 17, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  14. ^ "Lonzo Ball". USA Basketball. Retrieved March 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  15. ^ Schilken, Chuck (March 14, 2017). "LaVar Ball, father of UCLA star Lonzo Ball, says he could have beaten Michael Jordan one-on-one". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  16. ^ Bolch, Ben (February 20, 2017). "LaVar Ball's boasts about sons, including UCLA star Lonzo. One man on social media says " Lonzo Ball is a great player but if his dad he going around saying a hole bunch of stuff he saying he does not need to say he will mess up his sons future". reactions". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  17. ^ Boone, Kyle (March 17, 2017). "LaVar Ball finally said it: Lonzo, not LeBron, is the best player in the world". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 17, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  18. ^ "LaVar Ball claims he 'would kill Michael Jordan one-on-one' back in his heyday". ESPN. March 14, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  19. ^ Mazique, Brian (March 14, 2017). "LaVar Ball: Marketing Genius, Out Of Control Dad, Or Both?". Forbes. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  20. ^ Wells, Adam (March 15, 2017). "Charles Barkley Challenges LaVar Ball To 1-on-1 After Michael Jordan Comments". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  21. ^ Bahr, Chris (March 14, 2017). "LaVar Ball believes his sons are worth $1 billion in shoe deal". Fox Sports. Retrieved March 16, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  22. ^ Amick, Sam (March 16, 2017). "Could LaVar Ball scare NBA teams from drafting Lonzo Ball?". USA Today. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  23. ^ Herbert, James (March 17, 2017). "Warriors coach Steve Kerr on LaVar Ball's hype: 'I don't think it's helping his kids'". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 17, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  24. ^ James, Jordan (March 14, 2017). "Twitter users troll Lavar Ball with 'Lavar Ball Says' hashtag". 247Sports.com. Retrieved March 17, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  25. ^ "Michael Jordan Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 20, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
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