The Los Angeles Lakers took on a whole lot more than a promising young point guard when they selected Lonzo Ball with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
In drafting Lonzo, the Lakers received the burden of LaVar Ball, the guard’s boisterous and often irritating father who has become a much greater distraction than Los Angeles could have imagined.
LaVar has unleashed a fair amount of divisive comments regarding the Lakers during Lonzo’s rookie campaign, mostly directed at the coaching staff. The Ball patriarch’s most recent soundbite arguably was his most damning, as he claimed that Lakers players no longer want to play for head coach Luke Walton.
Lonzo, of course, typically is asked to comment on his father’s words, but the 20-year-old continuously fails to address the issue head-on. And according to Bleacher Report’s Rich Bucher, the Lakers are tired of Lonzo sitting by the wayside.
“They (Lakers) are frustrated that he can’t stand up to his dad, but they really like him,” a source tells Bucher.
Another league executive added:Â “The kid could stop all of it. All he has to say to the media is, ‘He doesn’t speak for me. If you want to talk about the Lakers, speak to me, don’t speak to my dad.'”
Ironically enough, Lonzo is rather mild-mannered, which might prevent him from speaking out against his loud-mouthed father. But if ‘Zo truly cares about the best interest of the franchise, he might have to tell LaVar to pipe down.
