Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox was motivated to score a bunch of points on Lonzo Ball and the UCLA Bruins in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament because he wanted to shut up LaVar Ball who had been making headlines earlier in the season.
“Kill mode all the time,” is how Fox described his mindset before the UCLA game in March. “Shut Lavar Ball up,” is how he explains it a few months later.
“In the last year, he became relevant for some reason,” Fox said of LaVar Ball. “When I knew Lonzo in high school, I’d never seen his dad before. He went crazy this year. I guess when your son is a lottery pick, that gives you a lot of confidence.”
“He put a target on his neck,” “Not just the great point guards,”. “Every point guard. Like Patrick Beverley’s not going to do it offensively, but he’s gonna be like, ‘Yo, this kid’s not about to get past half court.'”
During the Kentucky-UCLA NCAA tournament game, Fox embarrassed Ball on the national stage by scoring 39 points on 13-of-20 shooting to lead Kentucky to an 86-75 victory. Ball only went on to score 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting and turned the ball over four times.
Life would be so much easier for Lonzo Ball if his dad didn’t talk so much shit.