Tuesday on CNN’s “New Day,” LaVar Ball discussed withdrawing his son LiAngelo out of UCLA following his arrest and suspension for shoplifting in China.
Ball plans to prepare his son for the NBA.
The outspoken father refused to thank President Donald Trump for helping LiAngelo and his UCLA Basketball teammates get out of China.
In the interview, Ball criticized UCLA and the NCAA for his son still being suspended when China dropped the charges, also suggesting the coaches could also be held accountable for the players’ actions.
“For them to prolong this and go on and on, it’s ridiculous to me,” Ball told CNN’s Chris Cuomo. “What happened to him, it’s been a long enough punishment.”
Cuomo pressed LaVar about “compromising” LiAngelo’s future since UCLA is such a great school for academics.
“We’re going forward with his future. With a great education of what? Now, if my boy wanted to be the smartest guy in the room, yes. With UCLA we’d have to wait back and say, ‘Wow.’ But to be the world’s greatest basketball player, man, it’s not rocket scientists. Either you got the talent or you don’t,” Ball said.
He later added, “UCLA is not going to bring my boy down. They are not going to say UCLA made his future. No, we will go a different route.”
The belief in the NBA world is that LiAngelo may “struggle” finding a job playing professionally. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski believes he needs to find a spot on a team at a smaller school to develop as a player.
Ball will struggle to find a serious job playing pro basketball, including the G-League. @Mike_Schmitz projected him in high school as a small-ball stretch 4-man at the mid-major college level. Would make sense for Ball to find a scholarship at a lower level and stay in school.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 4, 2017
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent
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