Lonzo Ball has done an excellent job thus far of not letting his father’s outlandish remarks become a distraction for him, and the Los Angeles Lakers rookie believes that will continue in his first NBA season.
Lakers coach Luke Walton, son of the legendary Bill Walton, knows plenty about having an outspoken old man. In a Bleacher Report feature earlier this year, the younger Walton spoke about how his own former Lakers teammates “hated” his father Bill and vowed to “make my life hell” because of it. At this point, Ball has not been given the same treatment on behalf of his father LaVar.
“Nah. Speaking for my teammates, they already know how he is so it’s never been a problem, and I don’t think it’s going to be a problem,” Ball told Kurt Helin of NBCSports.com.
The Ball family recently launched a reality show on Facebook called “Ball in the Family,” and Lonzo feels it has given people a chance to see his dad in a different light.
“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,” he said. “I’m happy for him, I’m happy people get to see the person I have known my whole life.”
Of course, Ball has not even played a regular season game with the Lakers yet. His teammates aren’t going to care about his dad’s thoughts on beating Michael Jordan in a game of one-on-one, but that could all change in a hurry if LaVar starts criticizing Lakers players. If he makes the same types of comments about Lonzo’s current teammates that he did about his UCLA teammates, that would undoubtedly create some tension.
