By ADAM ZAGORIA
After the blockbuster trade that sent Anthony Davis to the Lakers, LaVar Ball “guaranteed” that the Lakers “will never win another championship.”
“I guarantee: Like I say again, it will be the worst move the Lakers ever did in their life and they will never win another championship,” LaVar Ball told ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk while at the Drew League on Saturday to watch his son LaMelo play. “Guarantee it.
“They’re going to regret it. I’m going to have fun with it. Because I told you all, it was crashing down. Now [the Lakers] completely crashed, but at least my son got off the boat before the thing exploded. I gave them a chance. You can rewind it and go back. I said if you get the three Ball brothers, you can survive this. You let him go, oh, it’s going to be a cold day in hell. Trust and believe that.”
That’s a pretty bold statement considering the Lakers now have LeBron James and Davis and are favored by Las Vegas oddsmakers to win the title in 2020.
LaVar Ball on what went wrong in the short-lived Lonzo Ball-Lakers era, how Lonzo will make Zion better – ‘Lonzo could make Sara Lee better’ – and how ‘the Lakers gonna be known for always getting rid of great players.’ pic.twitter.com/EzV1f63xv2
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) June 16, 2019
In exchange for Davis, the Lakers dealt Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart
LaVar Ball had dreamt of having all three of his sons one day play for the Lakers. Now that dream appears dead.
The Pelicans have point guard Jrue Holiday, but LaVar said Lonzo has no problem playing with other good guards and can help Zion Williamson became even better in New Orleans.
“Lonzo
As for playing with Wiliamson, he said: “Lonzo could be with Sara Lee, and she gonna be good. Lonzo with anybody. Lonzo going to groom him, letting him know that when you get open, you’re going to get the ball. He’s going to make him so much better than what everybody’s thinking. So everybody doubting him and saying, ‘You know what? You don’t have these post moves. You’re not polished, just a good runner and athletic,’ Lonzo will fine-tune him.”
Meantime, the futures of LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball remain in flux. LaMelo is expected to attempt to play in Australia or China next season before entering the 2020 NBA Draft.
Officials at the Australian NBL said they would love to have LaMelo join their league.
“And for what it’s worth, I think it would actually be a very good opportunity for him,” Jeremy Loeliger, the CEO of the NBL, told me for Forbes SportsMoney. “If he came and played in the NBL, I think it would go a long way in helping him answer a lot of question marks that scouts may have about his game. I think it would test some elements of his game that haven’t necessarily been tested under a huge amount of pressure yet so I think it would be a good experience for him if he did want to come and join us. But I’m sure that there are a lot of other leagues and teams that would love his services.”
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