Respect to Lavar

One of the most outspoken characters in sports lately has been Lavar Ball, the father of Los Angeles Lakers’ point Guard Lonzo Ball.

Lavar, a former college basketball player has been a pivotal figure in the basketball world for the past couple of seasons because his three sons Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo were three of the top basketball players in the country during their high school years and throughout Lonzo’s freshman season at UCLA.

The father Lavar has been seen on many sports channels and on social media saying outrageous things including he could beat Michael Jordan one on one and predicting emphatically that his oldest son Lonzo would be drafted second overall by the Lakers in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Many of the things he has said have come true but the manner in which he has handled himself has earned a ton of hate thrown in his direction.

Then the Ball family came out with an internet show titled Ball in the Family, which followed the family’s life from Lonzo’s draft to LaMelo’s AAU games to the family helping Tina, the mother of the boys and wife of Lavar overcome a recent stroke.

If you look closer beyond the tough exterior, you see that Lavar is a great dad that set up his sons for success through the game of basketball. You also see a loving husband that puts in the time to help his wife walk again, learn how to talk again and push her to regain regular functions that we all take for granted.

I only felt compelled to write a little about the show because the man has been hated on a lot. Some of the things he says are over the top but there is no denying that he has been a part of his family’s life every step of the way (good and bad) and that should be commended.