Yahoo Finance LaVar Ball touts LiAngelo Ball as next NBA scoring great ahead of G League contract
LiAngelo Ball is expected to sign a contract from the NBA G League “soon” that will run through the rest of the season, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
LiAngelo has been a member on the practice squad for the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G League affiliate, since December. The team has 12 games left on its schedule.
“Gelo’s always been the best scorer everywhere he go,” LiAngelo’s father, LaVar said on Fox Sports 1 on Tuesday. “When he gets in the NBA within three years, I guarantee he’s the scoring champ. Guaranteed.”
That statement, naturally, stunned “Undisputed” host Skip Bayless. But LaVar held strong, and even added that LiAngelo was a “way better” shooter than his other two children “with his eyes closed.”
“Call me on it baby,” LaVar replied. “I’ll be back up here when he does … 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.”
"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."
— @Lavarbigballer says his middle son will lead the NBA in scoring pic.twitter.com/uCmmBUnX6C— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) March 3, 2020
LiAngelo hasn’t played professionally since 2018, when he played briefly in LaVar’s Junior Basketball Association. He also played briefly in Lithuania during the 2017-18 season, and averaged 12.6 points and nearly three rebounds in 14 games.
He briefly played at UCLA, too, but dropped out in December 2017 after he sparked an international incident when he was arrested for shoplifting in China on a team trip.
Among the three Ball brothers, LiAngelo was the least sought-after professionally. Lonzo, the oldest, was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft and is currently averaging 11.7 points, seven assists and 6.1 rebounds with the New Orleans Pelicans this season. LaMelo, the youngest, skipped the collegiate route and went to Australia’s National Basketball League instead. He is currently projected to be a top pick in the NBA draft this summer.
If LaVar’s prediction — which should be taken with a grain of salt, given his history — is accurate, all three of his sons could be thriving in the NBA next season.
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