LaMelo Ball had a press conference on Friday upon his arrival in Ohio. That's where he's playing high school basketball for SPIRE Prep Academy. Initial reports pegged the move as a showcase for NBA scouts to see how he fared against competition his own age in anticipation for the 2020 draft. But at his press conference to announcement his enrollment, LaMelo mentioned some big college programs where he'd like to play after graduation.
Perhaps you're wondering how LaMelo expects to play in college after playing professionally in Lithuania and releasing his own sneaker. Well, the Ball family claims he never accepted any money for his time playing overseas and the sneaker business is family run, so they can make that claim about his signature kicks, too.
It seems LaMelo decided to move from sunny L.A. to play against inferior competition in a cold Baltic country—with no movie theaters, malls or taco trucks, while subsisting on a diet of pork, cabbage, potatoes and stale mini chocolate chip croissants—gratis.
If you're wondering, this is not a joke.
Nor was the billboard that welcomed Ball to Ohio.
LaMelo's new head coach was at the press conference too, and the confidence he displayed when he said his new 17-year-old PG was going as the top pick in the 2020 draft was ramped up to the level of miracle worker.
Not to be outdone, Lavar Ball had his own quip, which doubles as the uncredited joke basketbloggers saw the most on their timeline Friday morning:
Except, LeBron doesn't have anything on the LaMelo hype.
Long sigh. The Balls are back.
