LaVar Ball has been in an off-and-on public dispute with Donald Trump since Ball refused to thank the president for his role in helping his son LiAngelo avoid shoplifting charges in China. Heck, even LiAngelo thanked Trump when he gave a speech apologizing for his actions.
But apparently the younger Ball’s expression of gratitude was not exactly genuine. LiAngelo told “The Breakfast Club” on 105.1 FM Wednesday that he only thanked Trump because UCLA officials wanted him to.
“They wanted to hear that. And he tweeted about it before my speech, so I had to add him in there right before I gave it,” LiAngelo said. “I wrote my original speech and then I had to put his part in there right before. My school wanted to hear it. Before I went up there they were like, ‘You’ve gotta thank him.’ I just threw him in there real quick before I gave my speech.”
Ball was asked specifically if he would have apologized to Trump had he known he was eventually going to quit the team and leave UCLA.
“If they didn’t tell me to do it, it wouldn’t have been in there, to be honest,” he said.
It makes sense that LiAngelo doesn’t feel like Trump did a whole lot to help him, especially when you hear some of the things LaVar has said about the situation.
