{"id":5073,"date":"2017-03-14T15:48:08","date_gmt":"2017-03-14T19:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=5073"},"modified":"2017-03-14T16:22:06","modified_gmt":"2017-03-14T20:22:06","slug":"how-lavar-ball-is-damaging-his-sons-futures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2017\/03\/14\/how-lavar-ball-is-damaging-his-sons-futures\/","title":{"rendered":"Lavar Ball is Damaging His Sons’ Futures"},"content":{"rendered":"

Up until\u00a0a\u00a0few months\u00a0ago,\u00a0you likely had no idea who\u00a0Lavar Ball<\/strong>\u00a0was. These days, you can’t seem to hear enough about him. And not for good reason.<\/p>\n

Ball is the\u00a0father of\u00a0UCLA star\u00a0Lonzo Ball<\/strong>, and Chino Hills High School phenoms\u00a0LaMelo Ball<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0LiAngelo Ball<\/strong><\/a>. All three are surefire talents bound to make the NBA. Lavar’s eldest son, Lonzo, is averaging 14.6 points, 7.7 assists (first in the nation), and 6.1 rebounds, leading the top\u00a0offence\u00a0in the country. Lonzo’s talents will be on full display in front of the entire nation, with UCLA set to play its first NCAA tournament game on March 17th. The younger Ball brothers,\u00a0LaMelo<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0LiAngelo<\/a>, aren’t too shabby themselves.<\/p>\n

Lavar has used\u00a0his kids’ nationwide platform to\u00a0make outlandish remarks, many of which are untrue. While he certainly has reason to be optimistic about his\u00a0sons’\u00a0NBA potential, Lavar\u00a0has taken his comments too far. Some (myself included) may question whether he lives in an alternate reality.<\/p>\n

Let’s take a look at\u00a0one\u00a0of the 49-year old’s most glaring comments, and the possible motivation behind it.<\/p>\n

Lonzo Ball > Stephen Curry<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The following is a direct quote from Lavar, after being asked to clarify his comments<\/a> on how\u00a0his son Lonzo compares to Warriors’ star,\u00a0Stephen Curry<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

“I’m gonna tell you right now, he better than Steph Curry right now….Put Steph Curry on UCLA right now, and put my boy on Golden State, and watch what happens.”<\/p>\n

Look, Lavar, we understand you have confidence in your kids. But don’t you think comparing your 19-year old freshman son to one of the top 10 current-NBA players and arguably the best shooter of all-time is a little ridiculous?<\/p>\n

In only his eighth NBA season, Curry is already tenth\u00a0in all-time three point shots made (with 1842 of them). Curry is the back-to-back MVP.\u00a0He knocked down a record\u00a0402 three-pointers<\/a>\u00a0on 45% three-point shooting, just last season. That shattered his previous single-season record of 286 from the 2014-15 season.<\/p>\n

While Lonzo does feature an above-average shot as part of his toolbox of skills\u00a0(he knocks down 41% of his threes on 178 attempts), he pales in comparison to Curry, even in the Davidson-product’s\u00a0freshman\u00a0season.\u00a0Curry finished the 2006-07 collegiate season with 122 three-pointers, knocking them down at nearly the\u00a0same\u00a0rate Lonzo has (40.8%). Curry would nail 162 threes on 44% shooting in his sophomore campaign,\u00a0then average\u00a028.6 PPG in his junior year en route to his second consecutive Southern conference player of the year award.<\/p>\n

Lonzo may be an excellent player, but Lavar comparing his eldest son to Stephen Curry is absolutely ludicrous. Not only that, but the comparison puts unneeded pressure on his son to perform in an other-worldly fashion night in and night out, something a 19-year old may have trouble doing. Lonzo surely has high expectations for himself; he doesn’t need his father setting expectations for him.<\/p>\n

Potential Motivation Behind the Comment<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It’s no secret Lavar has an incredible amount of confidence in his three sons. Lavar must realize that the comments he shares with the media are bound to go viral, and in turn increase the amount of consumers who know the names, “Lonzo, “LaMelo”, and “LiAngelo”. If Lavar’s sole motivation is to get his sons’ names out there, then he’s certainly succeeding.\u00a0That being said, the way Lavar is publicizing his sons’ names puts\u00a0his own name in the spotlight more so than his kids. Whether that is intentional is unclear, but the comments are\u00a0causing a distraction for his sons more than anything else.<\/p>\n

Lonzo has already had to answer\u00a0questions<\/a> about his father. While Lonzo may defend his father by saying he isn’t a distraction to him, the fact he’s answering questions about his father is\u00a0inherently a distraction to begin with.<\/p>\n

In the case of LaMelo and LiAngelo, scouts are already aware of Chino Hills and the NBA potential on that team. Both LaMelo and LiAngelo\u00a0don’t need their father\u00a0boasting\u00a0about how his sons’ deserve a $1 billion shoe deal<\/a>. LaMelo and LiAngelo are still in high school, but as Lavar says via Bleacher Report’s Rob Goldberg, “A billion dollars, it has to be there<\/em>.” The largest shoe deal in NBA history belonging to LeBron James<\/a><\/strong> is estimated around $1 billion. To even think your kids warrant a $1 billion shoe deal with not a minute of NBA experience to their name is preposterous. Then again, this is the same guy who said he would “kill”<\/a>\u00a0Michael Jordan<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>in a game of one-on-one.<\/p>\n

Here’s a look at Lavar’s college statistics compared\u00a0to Jordan’s:<\/p>\n

Jordan (in three years at North Carolina): 17.7 PPG, 5 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.7 SPG, 0.7 BPG.<\/p>\n

Ball (in 26 games at\u00a0Washington State): 2.2 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1 APG, 0.4 SPG, 0.1 BPG.<\/p>\n

Jordan would win that game every time.<\/p>\n

Hyping up your sons’ is understandable. What Lavar is doing, though, gives hyping up a whole new meaning.<\/p>\n

All stats accurate as of March 14, 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n

Main Photo<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n