LaVar Ball Fires Back at LeBron James, Refuses to Apologize for Talking About His Kids

If LeBron James is waiting for an apology from LaVar Ball, he's going to be waiting for a long time.

LaVar Ball responds to LeBron James.
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Image via Getty/Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Contributor

LaVar Ball responds to LeBron James.

If LeBron James is waiting for an apology from LaVar Ball, it sounds like he’s going to be waiting for a long time.

During a recent appearance on Chris Broussard’s In The Zone podcast, Ball suggested that his three sons Lonzo, LiAngelo, and LaMelo are going to be better NBA players than LeBron’s two sons LeBron Jr. and Bryce one day because LeBron has made it just about impossible for them to escape his shadow.

"It’s going to be hard for his kids because they are going to look at them like, 'You got to be just like your dad,'" he said. "And after awhile, that pressure starts sitting on you like, 'Why do I got to be just like him? What can’t I just be me?' And then they are going to be like, 'Aw, you’re soft, you’re not that good.' Because the expectation is very high."

Ball also talked about how LeBron hasn’t been able to spend as much time with his kids as he has over the years since he’s been busy playing basketball professionally.

His comments made their way back to LeBron, and on Tuesday afternoon, he responded by telling Ball not to talk about his kids anymore. LeBron seemed to warn Ball about what might happen next if he doesn't stop running his mouth with regards to the James kids.

"Keep my kids’ names out of your mouth," he said. "Keep my family out of your mouth. This is dad to dad. It’s a problem now."

Ball is, if you haven’t noticed by now, not one to keep his mouth shut, though, so it took him less than 24 hours to respond to LeBron. He made an appearance on SiriusXM’s Full Ride show on Wednesday morning and fired back in LeBron’s direction. He started things off by saying that he’s not going to apologize for talking about his kids.

"Apologize for what?" he asked. "I don’t apologize for nothing."

And then, Ball accused LeBron of being too "touchy" and said that he was just speaking the truth when he revealed that he doesn’t think the sons of star NBA players can transform into stars themselves.

"I don’t care what LeBron said," he said. "He talking about he warned me. He warned me for what? What is a warning going to do? Nothing. Now, if he get a little touchy because I gave an opinion on what I felt about no superstars’ kids really being superstars and the fact that they have to live up to their parents or to their fathers or whatever. I have yet to see one, and I’ve been around for 50 years. Have you seen one where the superstar’s son is just as good or better than him? I said a superstar. I ain’t saying just a regular player. I’m talking about a guy who we picture as an icon—a Dr. J, an Allen Iverson, a LeBron James. If somebody asks me a question, I’m gonna give them an answer. Now, if you touchy, I didn’t say, 'Oh, your kid is ugly, he can’t play a lick.' I didn’t say none of that. I said, 'I don’t see him being as good as LeBron.'"

Sooooooo yeah. LeBron isn’t getting an apology. It also doesn’t sound like LeBron is going to get Ball to stop talking about his kids. But this is just a reminder that it’s going to be Lonzo, not LaVar, who has to go out on the court next season and deal with LeBron. So if for no other reason, that might be motivation enough for LaVar to scale things back just a little when it comes to talking about LeBron’s sons.

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