Now that LaVar Ball has pulled his middle son LiAngelo out of UCLA, everyone is wondering where he’ll play next. It doesn’t sound like he’s going to transfer to a different college, and it also sounds like his European options could be limited. So could he potentially end up back in China of all places, the same place where he was justarrested and jailed for shoplifting?
Shortly after LiAngelo left UCLA, some basketball fans joked about the idea of LiAngelo going back to China.
But it could actually be a real possibility—at least if you ask LaVar. TMZ Sportscaught up with the Ball family patriarch at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday afternoon and asked him if he thinks China would be a good landing place for LiAngelo. His response: "Why not?"
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LaVar didn’t really shed any light on where LiAngelo might end up, but he did say he doesn’t think Chinese basketball teams would be against bringing LiAngelo back into the mix, despite his recent legal concerns in the country.
"Of course," LaVar told a TMZ Sports cameraman. "Why not? I don’t know what he’s going to do, but [China] would be happy to have him."
Chinese teams have welcomed plenty of U.S. basketball stars with open arms in the past. Hell, Stephon Marbury is basically basketball royalty in China at this point. But would they really welcome LiAngelo after all the controversy he caused in November?
It sounds crazy, but then again, this entire LiAngelo saga has been crazy, so would it even surprise you if he ended up in China? Check out the clip above to see LaVar address it. Later in the clip, LiAngelo also makes a brief appearance, mostly ignoring the TMZ Sports cameraman’s questions about his future.
