As Lonzo Ball and the fellow Baby Lakers made a return to Los Angeles in the first meeting on the road against the Lakers, so to did LaVar Ball make a triumphant reappearance. Once a fixture on the Staples Center sidelines, Ball’s appearances have been fewer and further between with sons across the country and globe.
On Friday, though, LaVar was back on the sideline and had an interesting neighbor to him in Klutch Sports founder Rich Paul.
Paul, who is also the famous agent of LeBron James, has had minimal public interaction with Ball in the past. The closest the two were connected recently involved speculation that Lonzo would sign with Klutch Sports early in 2019 after parting ways with then agent Harrison Gaines.
Pau has spoken highly of LaVar in the past as a father figure.
“I respect LaVar as a man, as a father. And I hope when my sons get older, I’m as passionate about them as he is about his.”
Both also have squared off with the NCAA in recent years. Paul was the assumed focus of a rule implemented by the NCAA regarding qualifications for agents to represent college athletes. LaVar, meanwhile, started up the JBA as a form of protest against the NCAA. Youngest son LaMelo also took a route through the National Basketball League in Australia largely amid speculation of eligibility concerns with the NCAA.
