As expected, Lonzo Ball is making headlines in his rookie season in the NBA. He scored a mere three points on 1/6 shooting in his first game with the Lakers on Thursday. This was due to the lock down defense of the Clippers’ Patrick Beverly. Beverly made it known that him and other guards in the league would be after Ball due to the constant trash talking and arrogance by Lonzo’s father, LaVar. Lonzo would go on to rebound quickly in his second NBA game against the Suns in which he posted 29 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in a 132-130 win over the Suns on Friday.
LaVar’s mouth has caused some of the best defenders in the league such a Beverly to come out to say that Lonzo has a target on him by other players.
“Weak ass motherf*****. Bring him out on the court with me, and I will tear his ass up,” said Beverly.
LaVar responded quickly and aggressively to Beverly’s comments.
“Yeah, you shut the motherf***** down. And your check still ain’t going to go no higher than what it is. Yeah, you shut him down. OK. Who is Patrick Beverley? He played all last year and nobody said nothing about him. Now we are looking at your first game. Why? Because Lonzo’s name is attached to it.
“So you got to be all hard. Let’s see what you do the next five games, if you are going to be pumped up toward everybody like that and go back to your 0-for-5 shooting and your two or three rebounds. Nobody is going to care about you. But you put my son’s name in it, and you put my name in it, now you got some action and you got some people talking.”
In an interview with The Score, LaVar Ball said that he knows his trash talking will affect Lonzo’s rep in the league. But as we all know LaVar, he went on to say that it won’t matter because Lonzo is that great.
“Lonzo’s always gonna have a bad rap. You know why? Because I’m talking about him. Cuz Lonzo’s so good you can’t touch him.”
He also went on to say that the Lakers don’t have a closer to win games and that Lonzo will be the one to come through in the clutch in those moments.
LaVar Ball’s media personality may eventually be detrimental to the Lakers’ success over the course of the season. As a team that’s not expected to miss the playoffs for a fifth consecutive season, this turmoil in Los Angeles is a huge possibility.
Watch LaVar’s full interview with ESPN following Lonzo’s huge performance against the Suns below.