UCLA Basketball Team Returns Home From China Without LiAngelo Ball And Two Other Players
The UCLA basketball team has returned home from China, leaving behind UCLA freshman players LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley, and Jalen Hill who are under house arrest at a Hangzhou, China hotel after being arrested on suspicion of shoplifting Louis Vuitton sunglasses. What was supposed to be an opportunity for UCLA to show off some of the best and brightest in college basketball has sadly instead turned into an international incident.
Bringing extra press to the situation is one of the UCLA freshman players, LiAngelo Ball, younger brother of Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball. LiAngelo Ball’s father, Lavar Ball (who was in China at the time of the incident and called it no big deal) has also become well-known for being the ultimate stage dad to his three sons Lonzo Ball, LiAngelo Ball, and LaMelo Ball.
Lavar Ball now is coming under more scrutiny since middle son, UCLA freshman LiAngelo Ball was arrested in China. Lavar Ball is being compared by sportswriters to other sports dads who have pushed their kids a bit too hard.
“But LaVar Ball, well he makes Woods, Williams, and Marinovich seem like Danny Tanner.”
Some also have said that Lavar Ball is trying to live through his sons to have them achieve what he couldn’t.
“Surely, you’ve heard of LaVar Ball by now, right? The vociferous former dud of a basketball player who claims Michael Jordan wouldn’t have been able to score two points against him back in the day.”
I don’t think these @UCLA players have any idea what trouble they are in. This isn’t a minor inconvenience. #chineseprison https://t.co/9fL5YMOrfU
— Neal Kessler (@NealKessler) November 8, 2017
And PAC-12 Commissioner Larry Scott isn’t impressed with LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley or Jalen Hill as he is incredibly embarrassed by their behavior and the way they have represented UCLA, their conference, and the NCAA.
“It’s certainly very unfortunate and very disappointing to me as commissioner of the conference, when we’re guests in another country, guests of our partners, that any of our students should be involved in this incident. That’s not the standard we hold our students to, especially when they are traveling and they are ambassadors of their university and the United States.”
UCLA freshman Ball, Riley, and Hill cannot leave their hotel, and a source through ESPN says that the UCLA players will have to remain in China and in the hotel for another week or two. At this time, UCLA has no comment on the players who are said to appear clearly on surveillance tapes from the stores where they allegedly shoplifted.
The Louis Vuitton sunglasses that UCLA freshman LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley, and Jalen Hill are charged with stealing are valued at 4900 yuan. Chinese law says anyone caught stealing goods worth between 4,000 and 7,000 yuan faces between one and two years in jail. Chinese prosecutors are said to have a 90% success rate, so it is a major concern, despite what Lavar Ball thinks.
A controversy in China involves one of college basketball’s most famous families https://t.co/p8xxZnZXrW
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) November 8, 2017
Commissioner Larry Scott said that the arrest of UCLA freshman Ball, Riley, and Hill really took something away from the experience in China.
“It has provided a real distraction and unwanted publicity, which distracts from what overall has been a tremendous experience and a tremendous week for the UCLA and Georgia Tech students.”
What do you think of UCLA leaving the three players who are charged with shoplifting alone in China? What do you think of the three UCLA players who are reportedly caught on tape shoplifting? Do you think that UCLA will suspend the players?
[Featured Image by Michael Owen Baker/AP Images]
