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UCLA Basketball: The Bruins dodged a bullet with LaVar Ball pulling LiAngelo

By Mike Regalado

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 22: LaVar Ball, father of second overall pick Lonzo Ball of the Los Angeles Lakers, speaks to media during the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 22, 2017 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 22: LaVar Ball, father of second overall pick Lonzo Ball of the Los Angeles Lakers, speaks to media during the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 22, 2017 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images) /
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Back in December, LaVar Ball pulled his freshman son LiAngelo Ball from the UCLA basketball team due to a punishment surrounding his involvement in the shoplifting scandal in China, and seeing what is going on with the Los Angeles Lakers, it was the best thing the outspoken father has done for the Bruins.

Make no mistake, the UCLA basketball team could have used LiAngelo Ball’s shooting prowess and ability to play uptempo ball. Unfortunately, Bruin fans only got to see him play in UCLA’s exhibition game. That is because he was suspended indefinitely for his involvement in the shoplifting scandal during UCLA’s goodwill tour surrounding the Pac-12 China Game and the result was his father, LaVar Ball, pulling him from the program.

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To that, we say “Thank you, LaVar.”

Honestly, it was the best thing Ball could have done for the Bruins. Though LiAngelo would have been viable weapon, UCLA is doing fine without him. We continue to see that on a daily basis.

The circus that surrounds LaVar Ball has moved past Westwood and into, of all places, Lithuania, where Ball organized a plan for his two youngest sons, LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball, to play hoops professionally oversees. The path might have changed but the goal is the same. As LaVar said in his introductory statements upon landing in Lithuania with his sons last week, the goal is to make it to the NBA, specifically the Los Angeles Lakers.

There is one small problem… LaVar himself.

Back in December, the Los Angeles Lakers organization, where Ball’s oldest son, former UCLA Bruin Lonzo Ball is currently playing for, enacted the “LaVar Ball Rule”.

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This rule basically prohibits the media from going into a specific section of Staples Center set aside for player’s family and interviewing them. Why did this happen? Because LaVar was going to LaVar.

The Lakers reenforced the rule because LaVar Ball was criticizing the coaching staff. Though it limits Ball from spewing his opinions at Staples Center, it does not stop him from spewing his opinions outside of the arena. We saw that this weekend when ESPN’s Jeff Goodman interviewed LaVar in Lithuania, and once again the larger-than-life basketball dad made some controversial comments.

“Luke doesn’t have control of the [Lakers] no more. They don’t want to play for him.”

Goodman’s article received a vicious back lash, one that got the attention from many in the NBA. The NBA Coaches Association even wrote a  letter to ESPN, one that called out the sport network’s integrity. Here is an experience[t from the letter:

"Yesterday’s article by Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com regarding Luke Walton was a salacious one-sided story lacking journalistic integrity. The article attacked Coach Walton on the basis of one person’s unsubstantiated opinion. The story failed to provide quotes or perspectives from any players, or from Lakers management, either named or unnamed, verifying the claims made in the story."

The article was based on LaVar’s opinion, which has been well documented to be self-serving. If the Lakers’ head coach Luke Walton has lost his players, LaVar is the only one that thinks so.

Lakers’ rookie Kyle Kuzma had given his opinion on the subject, and as a more reliable source, refuted LaVar Ball’s claims and came to the defense of Walton.

LaVar was even blasted by Golden State Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr who called the Ball  father, a “Kardashian of the NBA”. This is not basketball. This is a melodrama.

Now, could you imagine what LaVar Ball would be saying about UCLA if LiAngelo Ball was playing for the Bruins? The middle Ball was not on-track to start, but rather play a secondary role off the bench. Bruin fans knew this and was already preparing for a LaVar backlash.

Though UCLA never received that, because LiAngelo never got the chance to play (based on his own poor decisions), the Bruins got a parting shot from LaVar when he pulled LiAngelo, “I’m going to make him way better for the draft than UCLA ever could have.”

Bullet dodged.

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UCLA was clearly a stepping stone for LaVar’s plan, but now the Ball father has a different plan. One, unfortunately, that is not making things easy for his children. Still, the Balls are not UCLA’s problem anymore and that is fine. The Bruins have their own problems to deal with… the circus isn’t one of them.