LaVar Ball Pulls Son LiAngelo Out of UCLA

LiAngelo Ball is no longer on the UCLA basketball team.

LiAngelo and LaVar Ball
Image via Getty/Joshua Blanchard
LiAngelo and LaVar Ball

In what appears to be a rather abrupt move, LiAngelo Ball is being removed from the UCLA basketball program by his goofy overbearing dad, LaVar, according to TMZ. That news was later confirmed by ESPN. In addition to being an ex-member of the Bruins' basketball team, LiAngelo will no longer be a student at the university, though he has not yet officially withdrawn.

This development seems to be a result of LiAngelo's indefinite suspension for a much-written-about shoplifting incident that occurred a a few weeks ago during a team trip to China (which is likely what you already suspected if you've been following the bizarre saga that ended with LaVar getting into a war of words with the president).

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According to TMZ, LaVar thinks his middle son's suspension is unfair because the charges were dropped, and that his attitude on the matter is, "There's no need to break down a kid's spirit for making a mistake." A spokesperson for the Ball family says, despite this, both LiAngelo and LaVar are appreciative of UCLA.

In LiAngelo's all-too-brief collegiate career, he played a total of zero minutes, racking up zero points and zero rebounds in the process. Guess we'll see if, after a freshman season that most would agree was a tad underwhelming, the plan is still for him to be one-and-done or not.

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