LaVar Ball‘s comment to ESPN’s Molly Qerim Rose has gotten him banned from the network.
Ball was on ESPN’s “First Take” on Monday and discussed his son Lonzo Ball being traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in a package deal for Anthony Davis.
Ball also talked about his other son LaMelo Ball trying to enter the 2020 NBA Draft as the No. 1 pick, despite forgoing college and recently inking a two year deal to play professionally in Australia.
But the outspoken dad wasn’t blasted for his draft day prediction, it was for the flirtatious comment he shot at Rose. At the time, the “First Take” host —who’s married to retired NBA star Jalen Rose — asked Ball to “switch gears” so she could move on to another topic.
“You can switch gears with me anytime,” Ball told her.
Afterwards, Rose told Ball to “stay focused” and without missing a beat continued with the show, which Jemele Hill gave her credit for.
Hill also implied that ESPN, who she used to work for, shouldn’t let the basketball dad on air anymore. Plus, plenty of viewers weighed in after the comment and slammed the 51-year-old for his words.
Two days after Hill made that suggestion about not having Ball on air, journalist Richard Deitsch said the network wouldn’t be having him on any of its platforms, according to a network spokesperson.
“There will be no LaVar Ball on any ESPN platform heading forward — at least as of now,” he tweeted Wednesday.
Deitsch also asked “If Ball would be used as an on-air guest, an on-the-record source for digital, or a background source for ESPN,” and a spokesperson said, “We have no plans moving forward.”
Immediately after Ball’s words, an ESPN rep said his “Comment to Molly Qerim Rose was completely inappropriate and we made him aware of that.”
But a spokesperson for Ball said his comments weren’t sexual and that when he told Rose she could “switch gears,” he meant it was fine for her to change the subject.
On Tuesday, a TMZ reporter caught up with Rose and asked how her husband felt about the incident. She was also asked whether Ball should be banned from ESPN or not.
“Those decisions are above my pay grade,” she responded. “I think Jalen would’ve just liked if he had apologized to me publicly. ESPN was really supportive and I appreciate it. All the executives had my back, so much appreciated.”
