Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Entertainment
EntertainmentSports

LaVar Ball Remains Unbothered As Son Lonzo Gets Drafted by L.A. Lakers

By | Published on June 24, 2017
CommentsComments (0) Add as a preferred source on Google i

It turns out LaVar Ball didn’t hurt his son’s NBA draft chances after all and Ball celebrated by delighting in everyone else’s annoyance.

The Los Angeles Lakers selected Lonzo Ball as the second overall pick Thursday, June 22 and his dad, who expected the Lakers to draft his son, couldn’t contain his excitement.

“From the words of Zeus, Jesus everybody said he was gonna be a Laker,” LaVar Ball told ESPN when the decision was announced.

“It’s a wonderful feeling, but I already knew what was coming to him,” he added later, noting he’s had his son pegged for the Lakers for 19 or 20 years. “I got two more boys, I gotta come to the same thing [for] two more years.”

LaVar Ball, proudly wearing the family’s Big Baller Brand hat in Lakers colors, also declared his former UCLA guard son would take the Lakers to the playoffs in his first year. As LaVar Ball made his way out of the arena surrounded by a booing audience, he tossed the BBB hat into the crowd.

Online, some still couldn’t put their issues with the outspoken basketball dad and his son to rest.


Others applauded LaVar Ball.

https://twitter.com/ShiftyTheGreen/status/878354234076311552

Subscribe To The ABS Newsletter — Get our stories in your inbox.

Independent journalism still matters.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Latest from Atlanta Black Star

Back to top