On Monday, the Detroit Pistons waived three players, one of whom was LiAngelo Ball. This roster cut-down comes after just two preseason games, neither of which Ball played in.
LiAngelo had signed a non-guaranteed contract earlier this month, temporarily marking a point where all three Ball brothers were on NBA rosters at the same time. For those who've seen a decrease in their Ball-family interest: A.) Lonzo remains on the Pelicans, B.) LaMelo was taken with the third overall pick by the Hornets last month.
Following the signing of the middle Ball bro, their dad, LaVar, sent out the following tweet:
Those were happier times.
On Monday, he reacted to the news of LiAngelo being cut by calling the Pistons "raggedy as hell," adding that "they're gonna learn the hard way," that the move was a mistake, according to a Bleacher Report AMA he participated in.
“I definitely have thoughts on that,” said the Ball patriarch. “The people in Detroit are great. I love the fans, but the franchise over there is raggedy as hell. They don’t know a good player. I was giving them a lottery pick for free! [He] has the skills to play and the notoriety to bring everybody to the game.
“How do you throw that out the window? They’re gonna learn the hard way. My boys are gonna end up together playing somewhere. ‘Gelo can shoot the lights out. That was raggedy what they did. But hey, they’re gonna learn the hard way.”
For a quick refresher to pad things out for context, Lonzo was taken with the second overall pick by the Lakers back in 2017. Two summers later he was traded to New Orleans, along with several other players and draft picks, for Anthony Davis.
At the risk of being redundant, youngest brother LaMelo was taken by Charlotte in November with the third overall pick.
In what's not intended as a slight (I mean, you try getting to the NBA for two weeks) LiAngelo entered the 2018 Draft but was not selected. He signed a G-League deal with the Oklahoma City Blue in 2019, though the season folded due to COVID.
