Words by Roman White
Dr. James Naismith might be spinning in his grave today after a glitch in Google’s search engine says that LaVar Ball is the founder of the National Basketball Association. If you google search the phrase “NBA Founder,” Google will tell you that the outspoken father of the Los Angeles Lakers’ Point Guard, Lonzo Ball, is the founder of the great game.
It is unclear what caused the glitch, but many users on social media are having fun with it. I’m sure It’s a matter of time before LaVar himself chimes. If he doesn’t (jokingly) take credit for the creation of the Adam Silver commissioned league, he’ll surely take credit for reinventing it.
LaVar may not have invented the NBA (which in fact cannot be credited to just one person although Naismith invented the sport of basketball) but he is working on the creation of a Post-High School basketball league for the top High School athletes in the country. Ball is creating this league as a paid alternative for top prospects who may not want to take the college route considering the many issues former college-athletes have expressed with Division one athletics.
LaVar came into the spotlight during March Madness last season when his oldest son, Lonzo, took the UCLA Bruins to the Sweet 16 before losing to the Malik Monk, De’Aaron fox led Kentucky Wildcats. LaVar spent his 2017 on ESPN and Fox Sports 1 touting his son’s accomplishments and marketing his Big Baller Brand apparel. LaVar even became polarizing enough to gain the attention of the President of the United States when LaVar dismissed President Donald Trump’s claim that he helped get LaVar’s middle son, Liangelo Ball out of a Chinese prison on shoplifting charges.
Following the incident which led to an indefinite suspension of Liangelo who also attended UCLA like his older brother, LaVar decided to pull him from the school completely as well as opting to home school his youngest son LaMelo who was a Bruins commit as well. The two brothers recently signed contracts to play professionally in Lithuania for Prienu Vytautas.
