During the 2017-18 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers had to navigate through several talking points that were created LaVar Ball and some of his controversial comments.
As president of basketball operations Magic Johnson revealed he spoke with the eldest Ball twice, the most damaging comments came when the 50 year old claimed head coach Luke Walton had lost the locker room during the team’s nine-game losing streak.
Since then, the Lakers have gone from rebuilding to playoff hopeful with the signing of LeBron James in free agency. Despite the major shift, Ball denied any major conflicts with the storied franchise and discussed his current relationship with Johnson, via Watch Stadium:
“The relationship with Magic is fine. Everybody gets stuck on the negativity, but the stuff we have behind closed doors doesn’t got anything to do with everybody else. We both grown men, we’re both businessmen. We’re not going to go at each other. Like, he can’t tell me, ‘LaVar, you need to calm down.’ And I’m not going to tell him, ‘Well this is what you need to do.’ I can suggest something, he can suggest something, and we can go with that.”
Heading into the 2018-19 season, there will be plenty of storylines in Los Angeles. Along with James and Ball, the Lakers signed Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee, Rajon Rondo, and Michael Beasley.
And although LaVar claimed all is well between he and Johnson, he does believe Kobe Bryant has issue with Lonzo because of James being his favorite player.
With big personalities in the locker room, all eyes will be on Walton and how he manages them heading into his third season. And, of course, LaVar presumably will be armed with his critique of Walton and the front office.
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