LOS ANGELES — LaVar Ball talks a lot.
He says outlandish things, created his own shoe brand, has players from other teams gunning for his son because of it, and is either a bombastic and annoying sideshow or a marketing genius, depending on your perspective. LaVar and the Ball family have their own reality show on Facebook already.
It’s led to a lot discussion online and on sports talk radio about just what kind of father LaVar is — but Wizards’ coach Scott Brooks said what gets lost in that is that he’s a dad who is there for his children.
“I was the youngest of seven, and my dad left when I was 2, and my mom raised all of us on her own,” Brooks said. “You’re growing up in that situation, you have some anger, you have some sadness, but you have to figure out a way through it… (Lonzo Ball) has a father and a mother that supports him.
“To me, I think everybody is missing the boat. Does he say some crazy things? Ya. Does he really believe he can beat Michael Jordan in a 1-on-1? No. But I can guarantee that over dinner his sons are killing him for saying things like that, and they’re having fun. To me, laughter is an important part of life. I think they get it. I think they probably laugh a lot, and a lot of the time they are laughing at us.”
LaVar Ball is a harmless sideshow. One I’m personally a little tired of, but a sideshow that some people find entertaining. He’s created his business model, and while maybe that’s not how a lot of other dads — myself included — would handle our children. However, talk to Lonzo and it’s clear he sees a different side of LaVar at home. Lonzo told me before he hoped that people would see that in the reality series.
“I think they’re already seeing it because I get a lot of feedback on the show, and a lot more people are seeing the person that he really is,” Ball said. “I’m happy for him, I’m happy people get to see the person I have known my whole life.”
LaVar has been there for Lonzo his whole life, there are a lot of children who wish they had a father like that.
