LaVar Ball is still making headlines, even when living overseas, after claiming that LeBron James will leave the Cleveland Cavaliers in free agency this summer to join the Los Angeles Lakers because his son, Lonzo Ball, is there.
USA Today’s Lonzo Wire reported that the older Ball “predicted” a LeBron James move to Los Angeles when the three-time NBA champion enters unrestricted free agency in July. The report noted that in LaVar’s viewpoint, the speculation of James switching sides is no longer a rumor and is already a “done deal” because of Lonzo.
LaVar went on to say that Lonzo’s unselfish attitude would lure James to play in one of the NBA’s biggest markets. He made the comments during a recent Delfi TV interview in Lithuania.
“Now LeBron say, ‘I’ll go to LA.’ He didn’t say that before Lonzo got there. So when I tell them, ‘Yeah, he coming because Lonzo’s here,’ people look at me crazy and be like, ‘So he’s just coming just because your son is here?’ Yeah. He’s young and passes the ball, so he’s coming because my boy is here.”
LaVar also claimed that Lonzo could still improve the play of James, who is widely considered as the best basketball player in the world right now. He mentioned that Lonzo will make LeBron “play more in the post” as the younger Ball takes over ball-handling and facilitating chores.
“They give me crap. ‘How will he make LeBron better?’ Easy: going to get him easier shots. Zo will throw him the ball with a mismatch in the post. Now he play more in the post. Easy buckets. Now he get the ball earlier. That’s what Lonzo does. He makes everybody else better.”
James has long been rumored to sign with the Lakers as he concludes his illustrious career. Most of his businesses and business partners are reportedly based in L.A. while he also owns two $20 million mansions in the Brentwood neighborhood of the city.
ESPN’s Adam Reisinger reported that the Lakers’ “ promise ” that “he (James) wouldn’t be the only superstar coming on board this summer” might help LeBron choose to take the L.A. option.
The Lakers have about $47 million in cap space this coming offseason after trading two of their young players, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance, Jr., to the Cavs at the deadline. It could increase to as high as $70 million if they let go of Julius Randle and waive-and-stretch Luol Deng’s contract over the next five years.
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George, who also has a player option at the end of the season, is rumored to be leaning on going home to play for the Lakers as well. A James-George tandem is expected to rank the Lakers among the league’s super teams next season.
LaVar said that the only way LeBron could upstage former Chicago Bulls great Michael Jordan as the NBA’s greatest player of all time is to win a championship for a third different team such as the Lakers. He said that if James does that, then he becomes “better than Jordan.”
