For a brief moment over the weekend, it seemed that LaVar Ball would have to put aside his Big Ballfather persona and accept that his dreams of Lonzo Ball becoming the next Lakers great were dashed after two seasons.
The glimpse of genuine humanity lasted for mere seconds as Drew League fans in a packed gym filmed his realtime reaction to the Pelicans-Lakers trade. Minutes later, LaVar was back in character, guaranteeing that the Lakers wouldn’t win a title and lobbying for the Ball brothers to team up in the NBA.
By Monday, he was back on national TV, and it didn’t take long for LaVar to make news for the wrong reasons.
During an interview with ESPN’s First Take, host Molly Qerim was trying to do her job and mediate the discussion. She said to LaVar, “LaVar, can I switch gears with you because I have a question here.”
To that, LaVar responded, “You can switch gears with me anytime.”
Uh…
Qerim handled it well and told LaVar to stay focused, but really, she shouldn’t have to deal with those remarks on live TV. It wasn’t a good look from LaVar, who had previously made sexist on-air comments to FS1’s Kristine Leahy.
Stephen A. Smith looked especially disappointed by the comment, reacting with a scornful look and a “good lord.” Former ESPN personality Jemele Hill applauded Qerim for how she handled herself and urged ESPN to stop putting LaVar on TV.
The Leahy controversy, of course, became an actual Big Baller Brand T-shirt. So, I wouldn’t expect LaVar to show any remorse for his remarks.
