As the AAU Uprising Summer Championships event sponsored by Adidas continues in Las Vegas, the biggest star of the event has become LeVar Ball. As first reported by espn.com, Adidas officials has reportedly instructed officials not to eject LeVar Ball for his sideline antics. Ball is coaching his Big Baller Brand AAU team in the Vegas this week and has used multiple obscenities against officials. In Thursday’s game against Play Hard Play Smart, Ball told an official “You’re the worst f—ing ref who has ever lived,” per a source.
Under normal circumstances, the sideline behavior, including profanity and sideline antics, would have demanded a technical foul under the category of disrespecting the game,” the source said. “However, due to strong messaging [from Adidas] to extend those guidelines in an effort to keep [Ball] in the gym, the officiating crew felt uncomfortable enforcing the technical foul rule for actions that clearly warranted [action]
On Friday, LeVar Ball was at it again when he was given a technical after tirade with a female official and, after Ball threatened to pull his team off the floor like he did last week, the official was removed from the game. The lead sponsor of the event, Adidas, did try to provide an explanation for their actions.
There was some miscommunication,” said Chris Rivers, Adidas director of global basketball sports marketing. “The NBA don’t put certain people with certain guys, either. If there’s a history or miscommunication, that happens.
The Big Baller Brand team is scheduled to play later tonight in Las Vegas, however, tournament officials are not certain that LeVar Ball and his team will play.