Since Scott Van Pelt first sat behind the SportsCenter desk in 2015, he’s devoted his closing segment, “1 Big Thing,” to pay respect to some of the most beloved people in all of sports, including legendary broadcasters Bob Ley and Dan Patrick. On Wednesday night, Van Pelt used his platform to apologize to LaMelo Ball for comments he made about the 18-year-old in the past.
Van Pelt has made his disdain for LaVar Ball no secret since LaVar made himself impossible to ignore in 2016, but Van Pelt has let his feelings towards LaVar have an affect on his feeling towards the three Ball brothers, particularly LaMelo. When LaMelo was a sophomore in high school, Van Pelt criticized him for cherry-picking his way to a 92-point game for Chino Hills and wasn’t a fan of the fact that he had his own signature shoe before he accomplished anything as a basketball player.
While Van Pelt hasn’t softened his stance on LaVar much, he’s remorseful for the way he acted towards LaMelo and devoted Wednesday’s “1 Big Thing” to the Illawarra Hawks guard.
It was a classy move by Van Pelt, and a necessary one as well considering he’ll likely be spending some time talking about LaMelo over the next few months as the 18-year-old point guard continues his rise up the draft boards. Whether Van Pelt hates him or loves him, LaMelo isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
