LaVar Ball Says The Media Wants To Create An Issue With LeBron James

LaVar Ball believes the media is attempting to create an issue between he and LeBron James.

Now that James has signed on to play with the Los Angeles Lakers alongside LaVar’s son, Lonzo Ball, some are questioning if the three time NBA champion will get along with the outspoken father of the team’s rookie.

“The media, all y’all try to say, ‘Ah LaVar — LeBron’s gonna tell LaVar to shut up and this and that.’ They try to create this (wedge) between us where it’s nothing there,” LaVar told V-103 in Atlanta, this week. “I see why. Because LeBron is very successful. I’m successful. They don’t want us together.”

LaVar insists that he and LeBron will get along well because they have three things in common: family, business, and winning. However, there was once a time when James did mention that he had a problem with LaVar.

Last year, LaVar responded to questions about the children of NBA stars doing well in the sport. He brought up LeBron, Jr., the son of James, who has become a star player on an AAU team and garnered some national attention.

In a 247 Sports report, LaVar said he believed it would be hard for LeBron’s kids to live up to their father’s basketball legacy.

“After a while that pressure starts sitting on you like ‘why do I gotta be like him, why can’t I just be me?’ And then they’re gonna be like ‘aw, you’re soft, you’re not that good,'” he said. “Because the expectation is very, very high.”

While LaVar once pursued a professional football career on some NFL practice squads, the father said that the fact he didn’t excel in the league afforded him the opportunity to spend more time developing his three sons’ athletic careers. James caught wind of Ball’s commentary and made it clear that they would have a problem if he did not stop speaking about the NBA star’s family.

“Keep my kids’ name out of your mouth, keep my family out of your mouth,” James told ESPN last year. “This is dad to dad. It’s a problem now.”

However, Ball later defended his comments and insisted there were no issues with James. According to LaVar, he only spoke about LeBron’s children because he was asked about the subject.

While he shared the opinion that he has never witnessed a superstar player’s child live up to the hype of their parents, LaVar also acknowledged that LeBron said he is going to make his children great, according to USA Today reports.