ESPN: LaVar Ball pulls son LiAngelo Ball out of UCLA

It's interesting to think about the psychology behind the outrage over them. I think it's saltiness that they can accrue wealth/fame all while marching to the beat of their own drum to such a great extent. As I mentioned earlier, usually people have to sell out in some way, shape or form. Signing with a brand, working for a company, or dedicating years of free labor basketball to NCAA/an institution are all examples of that (there are varying degrees to this obviously and I'm not judging the morality of it).

There is a lot of upside in the Ball fam trajectory. Not saying it'll play out as planned, but what's the worst that could happen?

Worst case scenario, they'll have a brand that does alright and the three boys will all making a living as adults playing hoops somewhere in the world. That worse case scenario is already a monster win.

Do panderers, pushovers and sell outs get mad when they have to look at themselves in a mirror in comparison to a BBB or other self-made hustlers? Our most valuable possession is our dignity and pride, after all.

Oh, and everyone loooooves to talk social equality, but when a person hustles and figures out a way to be creative/resourceful and rise, we demonize them? Come on!

Don't overthink this, it's quite simple-Dad's a loud-mouthed *sshole who has reached the pinnacle of obnoxious sports parents as a public figure. When I was back in high school, prior to social media and cell phones and when there was only one ESPN station, Marv Marinovich was the *sshole dad du jour and he didn't seek the spotlight that LaVar does. The publicity he received was universally negative and his parenting methods questioned and again, he was no where the publicity hound of Papa Ball.

Plus, the 15 minutes are dwindling; Lonzo has not been Magic Johnson reincarnate out of the box, just a promising, uneven rookie with a jump shot that may be broken. The other kids might as well be in Siberia. It won't be long until VH1 is doing a "I love the '10s" retrospective and we see some third rate comedian riffing on Big Baller Brand.
 

Oh, and everyone loooooves to talk social equality, but when a person hustles and figures out a way to be creative/resourceful and rise, we demonize them? Come on!

What a load of BS. Lavar gets demonized because of the things he says and does, not because he is trying to "stick it to the man" by going out on his own.
 

It's interesting to think about the psychology behind the outrage over them. I think it's saltiness that they can accrue wealth/fame all while marching to the beat of their own drum to such a great extent. As I mentioned earlier, usually people have to sell out in some way, shape or form. Signing with a brand, working for a company, or dedicating years of free labor basketball to NCAA/an institution are all examples of that (there are varying degrees to this obviously and I'm not judging the morality of it).

There is a lot of upside in the Ball fam trajectory. Not saying it'll play out as planned, but what's the worst that could happen?

Worst case scenario, they'll have a brand that does alright and the three boys will all making a living as adults playing hoops somewhere in the world. That worse case scenario is already a monster win.

Do panderers, pushovers and sell outs get mad when they have to look at themselves in a mirror in comparison to a BBB or other self-made hustlers? Our most valuable possession is our dignity and pride, after all.

Oh, and everyone loooooves to talk social equality, but when a person hustles and figures out a way to be creative/resourceful and rise, we demonize them? Come on!

The best case scenario would have been that their father didn't create all these unrealistic expectations for his kids, and he let them do their own thing.
 

It's interesting to think about the psychology behind the outrage over them. I think it's saltiness that they can accrue wealth/fame all while marching to the beat of their own drum to such a great extent. As I mentioned earlier, usually people have to sell out in some way, shape or form. Signing with a brand, working for a company, or dedicating years of free labor basketball to NCAA/an institution are all examples of that (there are varying degrees to this obviously and I'm not judging the morality of it).

There is a lot of upside in the Ball fam trajectory. Not saying it'll play out as planned, but what's the worst that could happen?

Worst case scenario, they'll have a brand that does alright and the three boys will all making a living as adults playing hoops somewhere in the world. That worse case scenario is already a monster win.

Do panderers, pushovers and sell outs get mad when they have to look at themselves in a mirror in comparison to a BBB or other self-made hustlers? Our most valuable possession is our dignity and pride, after all.

Oh, and everyone loooooves to talk social equality, but when a person hustles and figures out a way to be creative/resourceful and rise, we demonize them? Come on!

Boy this is a lot of jumping through hoops and subterfuge to try to explain why people don't like obnoxious jerks. I suppose it could all be a gigantic conspiracy about how society doesn't want people to start their own shoe brands, but it could also be simply that people like other people that are classy, treat others with respect, and carry themselves with dignity.

It really makes you think. There was a guy at the grocery store yesterday who was loudly berating his children, cut in front of an elderly lady at the checkout and then talked loudly on his cell phone the entire time while using profanity in a crowded store full of children. I thought at the time I disliked this guy because he was an obnoxious jerk, but maybe it was actually because he was bucking society's conventions. For all I know he might have been starting a shoe company...
 

It really makes you think. There was a guy at the grocery store yesterday who was loudly berating his children, cut in front of an elderly lady at the checkout and then talked loudly on his cell phone the entire time while using profanity in a crowded store full of children. I thought at the time I disliked this guy because he was an obnoxious jerk, but maybe it was actually because he was bucking society's conventions. For all I know he might have been starting a shoe company...

Did you get his number? I've got $500 and I'd like to get me a pair of shoes!
 





ESPN: LaVar Ball to be assistant coach for LiAngelo and LaMelo's team for friendly in Lithuania

LaVar Ball will serve as an assistant coach for LiAngelo and LaMelo's team, Vytautas, on Tuesday night in a Big Baller Challenge contest in Lithuania.

Vytautas will play against BC Dzukija in the Big Baller Challenge -- a five-game series of friendly games that do not count in the standings. The team put together the series in order to get LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball playing time against other teenagers. The Ball brothers, whose father is LaVar Ball, signed with Vytautas in December.

"He will be an assistant coach on game protocol but will drive the team through the game and make many of the decisions," a team spokesman told ESPN. "The style the team is going to play is going to be LaVar's choice."

Vytautas coach Virginijus Seskus told ESPN through a translator, "LaVar wants the team to play fast. He also has an idea for a new way for the team to play defense, so we're going to try it out tonight. Today we'll be like two equal coaches, but this will only be for the friendly match. We'll see how it goes today."

"Why not let him do it? It's only a friendly match. It will end, and everyone will forget about it."

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ssistant-coach-liangelo-lamelo-team-lithuania

Go Gophers!!
 



New way to play defense? Weren’t his AAU teams famous for playing terrible defense?

I guess the real coach is right though, it’s only an exhibition so it doesn’t matter. Plus the team signed on for the whole gimmick in order to make some extra money and I’m sure this’ll put some butts in the seats.
 

New way to play defense? Weren’t his AAU teams famous for playing terrible defense?

I guess the real coach is right though, it’s only an exhibition so it doesn’t matter. Plus the team signed on for the whole gimmick in order to make some extra money and I’m sure this’ll put some butts in the seats.

I am sure the Lithuanian coach is hoping this will totally backfire and the team will get crushed so that Lavar will be put in his place. Of course it could backfire on him and the team could play well which would just make Lavar more vocal then he already is. I honestly wouldn't put it past the Lithuanian head coach to have a little behind the scenes talk with his other players and tell them tank the game today in order to make Lavar look like an idiot.
 

I am sure the Lithuanian coach is hoping this will totally backfire and the team will get crushed so that Lavar will be put in his place. Of course it could backfire on him and the team could play well which would just make Lavar more vocal then he already is. I honestly wouldn't put it past the Lithuanian head coach to have a little behind the scenes talk with his other players and tell them tank the game today in order to make Lavar look like an idiot.

Wow, the Lithuanian HC better hope not...
 




Top Bottom