Remember when LaVar Ball was heaping praises to his son Lonzo Ball prior to the latter's entry to the NBA two years back. It seemed now the elder Ball just had a turnaround when he called the younger one "damaged goods" in a television appearance.
That heated exchange Took place during the taping for the reality TV show "Ball in the Family," which features the Ball family members. Reports said the discussion between the father and son became tense and quickly escalated when the latter asserted that the Big Baller Brand is "all messed up."
"The brand is demolished right now ... That's how everybody feels ... The world. The consumers," Lonzo was reported by Yahoo Sports as saying.
Obviously peeved by the assessment, LaVar let out a rant, declaring: "When I come out with a name and then somebody tell me to change it, that's like me telling me to change your name."
"That's like people saying 'Oh, yeah, change Lonzo's name to Alfonzo on the fact that he been damaged goods for the last two years," LaVar further declared.
The father-and-son dialogue happened in the aftermath of the Big Baller Brand's series of business woes, first with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and earlier the embezzlement case involving the snicker brand's co-founder, Alan Foster.
In a report by CBS Sports, it was alleged Foster siphoned off some $2 million from the Ball business. The scandal appeared to have prompted a change of course on Lonzo Ball's management affairs. Per the same report, the former Los Angeles Laker now has a professional agency to take care of his basketball dealings.
It was also interesting to note that Lonzo himself has lamented the notoriously low quality of the Ball snickers, which according to reports, gets damaged easily after only minutes of use on the hardcourt.
And stories have been circulating that Lonzo has acknowledged that the shoes he endorses are of trash quality. This fuel the speculations that the Big Baller Brand may have contributed to Lonzo Ball's injury woes, which prevented him from shining in two seasons of playing at the NBA.
Bleacher Report said Lonzo saw action in only 99 games while still a Laker. He missed the chance of playing 65 more games had he remained in tip-top condition.
In the end, Lonzo Ball was shipped to the New Orleans Pelicans in order for the Lakers to acquire Anthony Davis. And it's possible that the development so disappointed LaVar that when triggered, he revealed things that have been playing on his mind - that Lonzo is damaged goods.
Or as the same Bleacher Report story has proposed, the elder Ball is likely following a script. After all, his statement was made on a reality TV show.
