When the Los Angeles Lakers drafted Lonzo Ball with the second overall pick in the NBA Draft, many fans lamented having to deal with his brash father, LaVar Ball. In the past, LaVar has had no issues calling out Lonzo’s teammates, coaches, or opponents and put a target on his son’s back before he ever played an NBA game.
Up until this point, LaVar hadn’t been a problem for the Lakers as he has stayed relatively quiet other than brushing off his son’s early-season struggles. That has changed now, and head coach Luke Walton and the Lakers coaching staff is the target.
In an interview with Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, LaVar blasted the Lakers coaching staff, calling them soft and saying they don’t know how to coach Lonzo:
“Go get the W. Do whatever it takes. That’s why I’m down here saying, ‘Rebound,'” he continued. “He’s been away from me too long. I see tendencies in his game—they’re trying to baby him a little bit […] They’re soft. They don’t know how to coach my son. I know how to coach him,” LaVar Ball said. “I tell him to go get the victory. Stop messing around.”
LaVar would expound on what he meant by the coaching staff ‘babying’ his son:
“What I mean by babying [Lonzo], ‘He’ll figure it out,'” Ball said. “It ain’t about that. ‘Be patient with him?’ Ain’t no patience if you’re winning.”
“They’re letting it go too easy, saying they’re a young team,” he continued. “Forget about that! Put the [onus] on them. Say, ‘You guys need to win. You’ve got enough talent. Win some games.'”
This is exactly what many were worried about with LaVar. It is one thing to call out opponents and have them target Lonzo, but attacking his coaches could cause issues for his son in the Lakers’ locker room. Not to mention, this is the exact opposite of what LaVar said he would do before the season, and back off Lonzo.
So far Lonzo is struggling mightily to shoot the ball, but has picked up two triple-doubles and is posting averages of 8.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks.
Wanting his son to improve, and his team to win is fine. But calling out his coaches and simplifying helping Lonzo by telling him to ‘Go get the W’ definitely isn’t the way to go either.
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