LiAngelo Ball In Bid To Resurrect Career In G League

LiAngelo Ball will dominate NBA scoring when he enters the league, according to his father, LaVar Ball.

LiAngelo Ball is on the cusp of signing an NBA G League contract with the Oklahoma City Blue. The Thunder’s G League affiliate has 12 games left this season. After which, LaVar Ball is confident that his middle son can begin to thrive.

“Gelo’s always been the best scorer everywhere he go,” LaVar Ball said. 

“Zion can lead this league in scoring regularly till my other son gets there. When Gelo gets in the NBA, within 3 years, I guarantee you he’s a scoring champ. Guarantee you.”

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“Everything they say that [LaMelo] and [Lonzo] can’t do, this one can do. He’s stronger, faster, can jump higher. He’s 6-foot-7 now. They act like 235 [pounds]. They thought he was going to stop growing. ‘Gelo would have been a junior right now, coming out as a junior. He’s going to do his thing.”

However, the facts about LiAngelo Ball betray this quotes as the overly effusive praise of a proud father. Compared to his two brothers, LiAngelo Ball’s career is going nowhere. 

The eldest, Lonzo Ball, was the No.2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. He currently plays for the New Orleans Pelicans, and is averaging 11.7 points, seven assists and 6.1 rebounds.

The youngest, LaMelo, has taken an unconventional path and is projected to be a top pick in this summers’ draft. LaMelo Ball skipped college basketball to play in the Australian National Basketball League.

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LiAngelo, meanwhile, has not played professionally since 2018, in his father’s junior basketball league. He dropped out of UCLA in 2017 after he was caught shoplifting during a team trip to China. He had a brief spell in Lithuania in 2017 – 2018, and averaged 12.6 points and nearly three rebounds in 14 games. 

That trajectory doesn’t look like Ball will become and NBA great anytime soon. One has to ask if his father’s comments are more disruptive than they are helpful. Ball is running out of chances to convince people of his quality.