The fall out from what seemed to be a fairly innocuous interview that Jeff Goodman did with LaVar Ball in Lithuania continues to grow. LaVar Ball shared some comments to Goodman on Luke Walton’s handling of the Lakers and he questioned if Walton had lost the team. Several NBA coaches responded strongly citing ESPN and societal issues for allowing LaVar Ball to have a platform to criticize NBA coaches.
Rick Carlisle called ESPN a bad partner and Stan Van Gundy said he would no longer conduct sideline interviews with ESPN. LaVar Ball pushed some buttons and got a lot of coaches fired up to the point where they were willing to sacrifice freedom of the press in order to silence LaVar Ball.
Goodman joined Jorge Sedano, Keyshawn Johnson, and LZ Granderson on ESPN radio in Los Angeles to discuss the reaction to his interview. During the interview, Sedano asked if it was hypocritical for two outspoken coaches to get so upset about someone else being outspoken. Goodman responded.
“To me, I understand thinking that LaVar is a buffoon, and that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Goodman said. “But I’ve seen it a lot with college basketball and NBA coaches. They always protect their own. Do they have any more knowledge of the Lakers situation, and whether Walton has lost that team, than LaVar does? The answer is no … LaVar could be dead on, we don’t know that.”
Goodman also said that he does not regret the interview and what LaVar said about Walton was absolutely newsworthy. Goodman is correct. LaVar has a son that plays on the Lakers so by default he has more insight into the Lakers situation than any of the coaches that are hurling criticisms. It’s probably just easier to ignore what LaVar Ball says during interviews, but there are likely deeper issues at play.
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