The Los Angeles Lakers’ management seems to have had it of LaVar Ball’s open criticism of the way the team is being coached that they recently invited the outspoken father of Lakers rookie guard Lonzo Ball to a meeting in hopes that they could talk LaVar into tapering down on making relatively scathing remarks of the team, particularly of Luke Walton’s coaching approach.
This is according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, who also caught up with LaVar to ask how the said meeting went.
LaVar Ball confirmed the meeting took place, telling ESPN, “It was the best thing, man. Everybody's going to try to make it an ego thing, like I'm trying to tell them what to do or they're trying to tell me to tone it down. It's not about that. It's about coming together and to get a solution to this problem.
“It may sound crazy to other people, but I really just want the best for Lonzo, and the best for Lonzo is going to be what's best for the organization. Because if everybody winning, we good.”
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and president of basketball operations Magic Johnson sat down with LaVar in the meeting, and though both Pelinka and Johnson didn't offer any comments about it afterward, it appeared that everything went well and without a trace of hostility, per Shelburne’s source.
Johnson and Pelinka declined to comment when asked about the meeting. A Lakers insider said the main message to Ball was that they've tried to keep their relationship positive, while still allowing him to speak his mind, and they'd prefer he did the same.
LaVar has never shied away from speaking out against the Lakers, especially whenever he feels that Lonzo isn’t being utilized according to the sports dad’s vision.
Could a simple meeting actually work in terms of silencing LaVar at least for a little bit? Good luck with that.
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