Lonzo Ball Isn't Worried About His Dad Creating Drama With His Teammates

Lonzo Ball doesn't think his outspoken dad will cause drama this season with his Lakers teammates.

Lonzo Ball laughs with his Lakers teammates during the NBA Summer League.
Image via USA Today Sports/Stephen R. Sylvanie
Lonzo Ball laughs with his Lakers teammates during the NBA Summer League.

I'm not 100 percent sure when LaVar Ball first started making headlines, but it feels like we've gotten about 10 years worth of content from him by now. I say that because, just off the top of my head, he's generated eyeballs and website hits for: selling exorbitantly priced shoes, making it into NBA 2K18, getting his own Facebook reality show, saying he could beat Michael Jordan (though he's kidding, people!), getting into it with a ref over some bullshit at an amateur contest, being the subject of a diss track from Shaq, getting into a beef with Joel Embiid, making an appearance on WWE Raw, and telling Kristine Leahy to "stay in your lane."

That all happened in the past four months.

Furthermore (and more relevantly to this topic), the elder Ball has previously spoken out about Lonzo's "slow white" teammates at UCLA, claimed that he's better than already established stars (Stephen Curry), and insisted that Steve Nash was "too short and slow" to mentor his son.

G1R81fEs

Despite all this, and a lot more, Lonzo Ball doesn't think that his old man will be a distraction with his Lakers teammates once the actual season tips off next month. "Nah. Speaking for my teammates, they already know how he is so it’s never been a problem, and I don’t think it’s going to be a problem," he told NBC Sports.

He went on to explain that the aforementioned Ball in the Family reality show has altered how people look at his family. "I think they’re already seeing it because I get a lot of feedback on the show, and a lot more people are seeing the person that he really is," he said. "I’m happy for him, I’m happy people get to see the person I have known my whole life."

Ball made this prediction even though his own coach, Luke Walton, admitted that his teammates tried to "make [his] life hell" because of his own outspoken father, Hall of Famer Bill, when he came into the league with the Lakers back in 2003.

Lonzo also seemed to disagree with his dad on how much he can learn from Nash. "He’s an MVP, you know, one of the best point guards who ever played, so anything that he taught me is definitely useful," he said about the eight-time All-Star. "And just that one day alone I learned a lot about coming off a screen, guarding, there’s a lot of stuff he helped and I appreciate him taking time out of his day to do that because I know he didn’t have to.

"We talked about nutrition, keeping your body right in the training room and stuff, lifting weights the right way, so he helped me on more things than just basketball," Ball continued. "He helped me with my all around game… speaking for myself, I haven’t really taken care of my body like that before because I didn’t have to. Hearing it from him, it definitely made a lot of sense and I’m looking forward to adding that to my daily routine."

Maybe things will work out, but we won't know until someone shoves a microphone in LaVar's face when the Lakers start off 6-12. But other players around the league? That's probably what the rookie should be worried about.

Should be entertaining for the rest of us.

Latest in Sports