LaVar Ball has become one of basketball's most polarizing figures. While some fans applaud Ball's entrepreneurial skills and overt confidence in his sons, others think his brash personality is not beneficial to the family's brand. NBA Hall of Famer and analyst, Charles Barkley, seemed to agree with the latter when he claimed that LaVar's antics are hurting his kid.
When TMZ first asked his thoughts on Ball, Barkley tried to swiftly evade the topic. But as demonstrated by his career, Sir Charles has never been one to bite his tongue. As a result, it didn't take long for Chuck to stop being politically correct and rip into LaVar.
"I don't talk about LaVar Ball. And wherever LaVar Ball is, there's a village missing an idiot," Barkley began. "We should just keep LaVar off television that'll be the best way to do it." Barkley then went on to express empathy for Lonzo Ball. According to Charles, LaVar's over-the-top statements are "unfair" to his son who Barkley thinks is "a good player and a nice kid."
"They should just keep him off TV. He's an idiot," he added.
Barkley isn't the only the person that thinks Ball should stay away from the camera. Following his controversial comments to First Take's Molly Qerim, several viewers and analysts called for the network to stop highlighting Ball. This led ESPN to announce that they have "no plans" on moving forward with Ball.
Yet neither LaVar nor Lonzo seems to be phased by the critics. Following ESPN's announcement, LaVar let it be known that he has his "own show" so he can't be banned by a network he's not employed by. As for Lonzo, he knows that blood is thicker than water. Even though he left the family's Big Baller Brand, Lonzo has openly supported his father's behavior on several occasions and insists he's still family first.
"Nothing’s perfect, like I said. There’s going to be arguments. There’s going to be some standstills but close family always comes back together," Lonzo said when explaining his decision to leave the company. "My family’s always going to be close... My family’s always going to be together."
