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LaVar Ball: Who is the basketball father feuding with Trump?
The pair have squared off on Twitter and television over being 'ungrateful'
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Your support makes all the difference.He may seem like an unlikely figure to have a feud with US President Donald Trump, but the often-vocal basketball father LaVar Ball has been making headlines again for just that reason.
Mr Ball’s sons are Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball and University of California freshman guard LiAngelo Ball.
The elder ball, called a “media-made Frankenstein” by the Chicago Tribune and an “outspoken scion” by Rolling Stone, has been making waves in sports news since his oldest son Lonzo was playing for UCLA.
A college basketball and American football player himself, Mr Ball was more than just a boastful father; he became known for his outlandish quotes and sports media has been full of opinion pieces wondering why he is still a splashy news story.
In many ways, the attention around Mr Ball has the familiar tone of news media covering Mr Trump during the 2016 campaign.
It is clear he has been grooming his three sons since birth for a career in the sport; wife Tina, a former college basketball player as well, called the philosophy “LaVar-ology.”
“You thought Tiger Woods’ dad was crazy. You thought Michael Jackson’s dad was crazy. Venus and Serena’s dad was crazy. I’m on the right path! If I’m not crazy, they’re not good enough,” Mr Ball told GQ.
He once claimed to ESPN that “back in my heyday” he could have beaten NBA legend Michael Jordan.
He had a back and forth with TNT basketball analyst and former NBA star Charles Barkley, who said about Mr Ball’s continuous comments about his son’s talent: “I know you can be proud of your son, but at some point, it becomes stupidity.”
Mr Ball had been bragging about son Lonzo’s skills, saying that he was better than two-time MVP Golden State Warriors player Steph Curry, even before his 20-year-old son became the overall second pick in the 2017 league draft.
He shot back at Mr Barkley: “If Charles thought like me, maybe he’d win a championship.”
Mr Ball has also said he wants to package his sons Lonzo, LiAngelo, and the high-schooler LaMelo in a “billion-dollar shoe deal” with the likes of Nike or Adidas.
Regardless of the oversized personality, Mr Ball was just a father wanting to get his second son home from China after he was accused of shoplifting sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton.
LiAngelo and teammates Jalen Hill and Cody Riley were detained in Hangzhou just one day ahead of Mr Trump’s visit on his recent 12-day Asia tour.
Mr Trump said he brought up the players’ detention during his meeting with President Xi Jinping.
What ensued after the players' release is a Twitter tit-for-tat worthy of both men’s public personas, though many have questioned the President’s apparent attitude toward the African-American Mr Ball.
Several political pundits have noted he had exactly the opposite reaction to the family of Otto Warmbier, the young Ohio tourist who had been detained and fell fatally ill in a North Korean prison.
Mr Trump began the feud by tweeting that he did not receive a proper apology from the players’ families, though the three held a press conference later the same day and repeatedly apologised for their actions and thanked the administration for swift action.
He then said he “should have left them in jail” and that Mr Ball was “ungrateful.”
Mr Ball responded by saying on CNN: "How'd he help? If he helped, I would say thank you."
He has not tweeted about the incident or the President’s comments but later went on ESPN to say: “What was he over [in Asia] for? Don’t tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out.”
Mr Trump could simply not let it rest.
Even on Fox News, usually sympathetic towards loyal viewer Mr Trump, host Neil Cavuto said ““Last time I checked, you are the president of the United States...Why don’t you act like it?”
He attacked the Ball family once again, this time calling Mr Ball “a poor man’s version of Don King.”
The three players have been suspended indefinitely from the UCLA team. Mr Ball has not yet publicly responded to Mr Trump’s latest comments.
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