LaVar Ball has always played a significant role in his sons’ decision-making. From steering the beginning of Lonzo’s career and ultimately guiding him to the Los Angeles Lakers, to convincing LaMelo to eschew college in favor of international basketball, the elder Ball’s fingerprints are all over his boys’ careers.
Recently, that began to change. First there was Lonzo’s move to shun his father and sign with Rich Paul of Klutch Sports for representation. Then came LaMelo’s decision to sign with Puma – a blatant rejection of the Big Baller Brand that his father founded and has led since 2016. The latter choice played out on a recent episode of “Ball in the Family,” and LaVar was visibly furious.
Upon learning of LaMelo’s resolution to join Puma, LaVar was clearly upset. While it is impossible to know for certain what happened after the cameras stopped rolling, it’s hard to ignore the fact that LaMelo hasn’t been part of the sixth season of “Ball in the Family.”
LaMelo, meanwhile, has bigger fish to fry. Although he was at one point viewed as the near-consensus top overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, his stock has been plummeting in recent weeks.
A peace offering from Kawhi to Snoop. https://t.co/SzdYcXdUBi
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 7, 2020
“LaMelo Ball has reportedly struggled in workouts and interviews, and many league sources believe he could fall out of the top three,” Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer wrote last week. That supported a previous report from Rich Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
“Here is what I’m hearing from the league at large,” Bonnell said on 102.5 FM WFNZ in Charlotte. “LaMelo Ball is not performing very well at job interviews. I’ve heard that from multiple sources. He is not improving his perception via job interview.
“There are people drafting later in the top ten who were not preparing for the possibility of Ball still being around and, I’m not saying that he will be a top three pick, I am saying that I know for a fact that there are teams later in the top ten who are doing more research on him because they no longer think it’s a given he will.”
Big year for Paul George. https://t.co/REbRZuUAOC
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 7, 2020
At the moment, Anthony Edwards out of Georgia and James Wiseman out of Memphis seem to be the two most likely players to go No. 1 overall in the looming 2020 NBA Draft. LaMelo’s position is a little less clear.
The most obvious landing spot would seem to be the Detroit Pistons, since they are really the only team with a high draft pick that actually has a need for his skill set. According to ESPN’s Eric Woodyard, the Pistons are “intrigued” by LaMelo, but it remains to be seen if they will ultimately end up with him.
LaMelo averaged 17.0 points on 37.5 percent shooting, 7.6 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game for the Illawarra Hawks in Australia’s National Basketball League, so it will be interesting to see what he is able to do at the next level.
Similarly, it will be interesting to see how his relationship with his father evolves as he transitions from young prospect on the come up to full-blown NBA star.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
