A sad day for the Ball family patriarch.
LaVar Ball was on ESPN’s First Take on Monday where he spoke about a bevy issues, including his son Lonzo who was recently traded to the New Orleans Pelicans. He also predicted that his youngest son LaMelo would end up being the first overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft which is certainly an incredibly bold proclamation. Perhaps the most egregious thing LaVar said during his appearance was directed at the show’s moderator, Molly Qerim. When Qerim went to change topics and “switch gears,” Ball said she could “switch gears with him] anytime,” with left her cringing and feeling uncomfortable.
Since then, ESPN has stated that the comments were “inappropriate,” while also showing support for their on-air talent. Today, journalist Richard Deitsch tweeted about a conversation he had with a spokesperson at ESPN who said they have “no plans” to have Ball make another appearance on the network.
While LaVar hasn’t been permanently banned from the network, it certainly appears like he won’t be welcomed back at ESPN for the foreseeable future. Ball has been given platforms on other stations like FS1 so he won’t have to worry too much about where he can go leech some fame f next.
As long as Ball continues to say ridiculous things about his sons, people will be interested. If he can’t say those things through ESPN, he’ll easily find another way to do it.