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There is a large contingent of basketball fans who would like nothing more than for Lonzo Ball to be a bust, if for nothing more than to slap a crying Jordan meme over LaVar Ball’s face. It’s tough to root for a guy whose father adamantly believes that his son belongs in the Hall of Fame before playing one regular season pro game. To summarize, lets review the most outlandish claims LaVar has made about his oldest son.
“To me ‘Zo is the best player in the world. … I don’t know if he can beat (LeBron James and Russell Westbrook) one on one, but I know he can beat them 5 on 5.”
“I’ll tell you right now, he’s better than Steph Curry to me.”
“These boys were born to go pro. Your mom’s a P.E. teacher, I’m a personal trainer, your last name is Ball. How much more lined up can you be?”
What’s ironic is that the LaVar’s 19-year-old son and new face of the Lakers franchise couldn’t be more dissimilar than his blowhard father, whose been tweeted about over 2.5 millions times over the past year for his entertaining antics.
Lakers big man Andrew Bogut recently told the Sydney Morning Herald how surprised he is with Lonzo’s grounded demeanor.
“All the hype with what his dad has done with the brand means people want to knock him down. People love it, people hate it.
Fortunately that reflects on Lonzo as well but he is the complete opposite to what I thought. He is softly spoken, has a good sense of humour and doesn’t say a lot. Nobody has had any issues with him.
People’s true colors come out as the season goes on but I don’t think he is like anything that has been reported.
Obviously, he gets a lot of grief for what his dad does with their brand but it’s just a dad supporting his son you know. There is a lot of people out there who would love to have that support from their parents.
You can’t knock it.”
The Lakers open their season with the Clippers this Thursday, and contingent on Lonzo’s ankle being fully healed, we’ll find out if he’s really a Big Baller.