LaVar And LiAngelo Ball Discuss Leaving UCLA And China

On Tuesday, December 5, outspoken father Lavar Ball went on The Today Show with his son LiAngelo to talk about issues, most importantly further discuss the shoplifting incident in China and why LaVar believed taking his son out of UCLA to better focus on pursuing his professional basketball career is the best choice.

Ball and other UCLA players admitted to stealing from Louis Vuitton and other stores at a mall in Hangzhou, China last month.

“We all went out one night, went through the malls, went to the Louis Vuitton store, and people started taking stuff and me just not thinking and being with them, I took something, too,” LiAngelo Ball said.

Sports Illustrated reported that Ball said he spent “a day and a half or something like that” in jail. He also added that they were just being kids and not thinking when they decided to steal. It wasn’t until they returned to their hotel when they realized that what they did was not a good decision. At this time, it was too late to take back what had been done.

The next day the police showed up to their hotel and they were arrested.

The UCLA freshmen were allowed to return to the United States, after President Donald Trump talked to Chinese President, Xi Jinping.

Once the players returned to the U.S. they thanked President Trump for his aid in getting the boys home and out of jail, but LaVar Ball fails to recognize that Trump played a role in the players’ release.

On The Today Show LaVar gave his reasoning to why he decided to pull his son out of UCLA:

“[…] it’s a long process for him. He only went to UCLA one-and-done to play basketball.”

LaVar Ball’s plan is to have all of his sons play for the Los Angeles Lakers.

“I ain’t got no fallback plan. Because if I got a fallback plan, that means I’m going 80 percent this way and 20 percent to my fallback,” he said. “I’m 100 in. So I never get stopped.”

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