After spending much of his life in the shadow of his outspoken father, LaMelo Ball will soon be stepping out into his own. With the youngest Ball set to play overseas next year in likely either China or Australia, LaVar will not be joining his son with former Spire Institute head coach Jermaine Jackson taking the role as chaperone.
From LaMelo’s Slam feature:
Wherever LaMelo goes, he’ll be without the regular supervision of LaVar for the first time in his life. Instead, he’ll be accompanied by Jermaine Jackson, his coach at SPIRE who recently moved to Chino Hills to stay with the family and work as LaMelo’s trainer and manager. Despite the age gap—Jackson is 42—the two are practically inseparable.
Jackson is a former NBA player that spent five seasons in the league from 1999 until 2006. Outside of the NBA, Jackson had stops all over the globe from the Yakima Sun Kings with the now-defunct CBA to Maccabi Haifa B.C. in Israel with numerous stops in-between.
More recently, Jackson served as a head coach at Spire Institute for one season after spending three years as an assistant for the University of Detroit Mercy. While at Detroit Mercy, Jackson served briefly as the interim head coach.
It’s an interesting move for LaVar, who has hovered over and around LaMelo for much of his time in the spotlight. While not living in Lithuania, LaVar was around enough and had his handprints all over the situation before dipping out after one season. LaMelo was then made the face of the JBA before opting to head back to Spire where LaVar spent nearly the entire season living in Ohio with LaMelo.
Now, LaMelo will get the chance to live away from his father, a move that led to mixed results for his siblings. While Lonzo flourished and adapted, LiAngelo quickly went the opposite direction with his scandal in China leading to all sorts of problems.
The good news for LaMelo is he has a great person and a former pro helping keep him in line wherever his next stop may be.
