LaVar Ball isn’t viewed as a very likable guy to many in the basketball world.
The classic stage dad (or court dad in this case I suppose) that tries to feed off of the fame of his sons and capitalize on it for his own benfit and fame, even at the detriment to his sons.
Ball has said about a million crazy things over the past year and has seemingly been in the news daily for one reason or another.
The most recent news story involves him pulling his two younger sons out of UCLA and Chino Hills high school to sign a professional contract overseas with a Lithuanian team.
This doesn’t sit well with many, including the most outspoken basketball voice of all: Charles Barkley.
Here is what he said on Golic and Wingo about Ball:
“Everybody talking about how he might be a good father, this and that. No he’s not. He’s just exploiting his kids. … He’s all about Big Baller Brand. He has no foreseeable talent. He’s trying to make money on his kids, and I just feel sadness for those kids because they’re going to do whatever he tells them to do. I just don’t like the guy at all, plain and simple. And don’t tell me he’s a good father. Just because you exploit your kids, trying to make money because you have no talent, that does not make you a good father. That makes you exploiting your kids. And I don’t like the guy at all.”
These are pretty harsh words but they are 100% accurate in my opinion. LaVar is a fame whore that is hurting his kids more than helping them at this point and probably just set them up for failure with his most recent decision to pull them out of school, especially his 16-year-old son.
Barkley also blamed the media for giving Ball such a platform and as ironic as this may sound coming from someone writing about this, he is 100% right about that too.
I am sure LaVar will eat this up and respond accordingly.
