Donald Trump vs LaVar Ball: Who ya got and death is not an option
If you have ever been involved in children's sports programs, you've dealt with people like LaVar Ball. He's the father who thinks that his kindergarten-aged son who has trouble hitting the ball off a tee is going to be a future member of the Cubs. He's the father who sits in the stands and yells at the referee at a park district soccer game. He's the father who tells the basketball coach that you aren't using his son correctly and are stopping his route to the NBA.
Actually that last part really is LaVar Ball. He's the sports parent you really hate and the fact that his kids are great players makes him act worse. He's made school coaches lives so miserable that they've quit or he's had them fired. He's turned his kids into commodities to sell shoes at ridiculous prices. His presence in the stands at UCLA basketball games last season overshadowed his son Lonzo's excellent play. Now he's telling the Los Angeles Lakers how to coach his son and the team. They're too soft on him. And oh yeah...I forgot that LaVar bragged he could take Michael Jordan in a one on one basketball game. Sigh.
Okay so LaVar Ball is that bad sports parent on steroids. Yeah, he's tough to take and you'd like to see a lot less of him and please, please shut up once in a while. But we all get that he is like the rest of us who wants the best for his children.
Well...one of the Ball kids got himself in a little bit of trouble. Seems that middle child LiAngelo and two of his UCLA teammates did some shoplifting in China. They were caught and placed on a type of house arrest in their five star hotel. Passports were taken away and they weren't allowed to go home with the rest of their team.
The word on the street that these crimes were punishable by five to ten years in a Chinese prison. Maybe but probably not. Do you think the Chinese government wants to be involved in an international incident over designer sunglasses? My guess is not so much.
But good news....the President of the United States is in town and he's going to come to the rescue. Supposedly he pulls some strings, makes some calls and voila...problem solved. I say supposedly because we just have his word that this occurred as he said and he's never over exaggerated anything before, has he?
The kids are released to go home and Donnie makes it clear he expects to be thanked publicly. Apparently the satisfaction of helping US citizens in their time of need, even if it was of their own doing, isn't good enough for him. I guess that's not part of his job description. No way to monetize this.
The players have a press conference where they apologize for their behavior and thank Trump for his help. That should be the end of this sordid episode. NAAAH! Not when you have the egos of LaVar and Don involved. It's tweeting time.
LaVar starts by saying he was never worried, that he had feet on the ground in China and Trump's role in all of this was overstated. Donnie shoots back that now he's sorry that he got involved at all and that LaVar is lucky that he saved him from spending the next ten Thanksgiving holidays in China, visiting his son in a prison.
OY! LaVar you couldn't leave well enough alone. At a time where your son needs to stay out of the limelight, you brought more attention to the incident. LaVar, you're a tool...it's that simple. Don...more sighing. I'd say your response is shocking but this is every day behavior for you. We expect better behavior from our President but I for a minute I forgot that you're also a tool.
But for narcissistic reasons, our President decided today was the day to kick it up a bunch of notches. At 2:25 am, he send out a new Tweet.
It wasn’t the White House, it wasn’t the State Department, it wasn’t father LaVar’s so-called people on the ground in China that got his son out of a long term prison sentence - IT WAS ME. Too bad! LaVar is just a poor man’s version of Don King, but without the hair.
Dude...didn't your parents tell you that nothing good ever happens at 2:25 in the morning? NOTHING! And then you toss in that Don King hair thing which only confirms what more than half the country thought about you all along.
So who ya backing in this? It is always nice to see LaVar get brought down a notch but Donald Trump is unfortunately the President of the United States. He used his position and his power to go after a private citizen. If he can attack someone with as much name recognition as Lavar Ball, then the rest of us are at greater risk. Just another scary moment with #45.
I feel like I need to shower after saying this but I'm backing LaVar Ball....Every. Single. Day. SMH!
The person who makes the most sense in this is Golden State Warrior head coach Steve Kerr. When asked about this he said: "Two people seeking attention, and they’re both getting it. I’m sure both guys are really happy. You know what would help? If all of you just stopped covering both of them. Is that possible? You could probably stop covering LaVar. I don’t know think you can stop covering the President. I don’t think that’ll work, but it would be nice for all of us if both of them would be quiet. That would be great."
Steve Kerr for President in 2020!
Related Post: Kids sports were better before parents were involved
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