Earl Watson: UCLA’s Lonzo Ball is a ‘complete opposite’ of dad LaVar
Mar 14, 2017, 4:55 PM | Updated: 8:57 pm
UCLA guard Lonzo Ball, right, walks away after hugging his father, LaVar, following the team's NCAA college basketball game against Washington State, Saturday, March 4, 2017, in Los Angeles. UCLA won 77-68. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
You probably don’t want to hear about LaVar Ball’s proclamations anymore.
But do you want to hear what Suns head coach Earl Watson thinks about the boisterous father of a likely top-three pick in the 2017 NBA Draft?
Watson is a former UCLA point guard, just like LaVar’s son, Lonzo, who leads the Bruins into the NCAA Tournament with a lot to prove. The Bruins are a No. 3 seed, and Ball can push them to a Final Four berth all while building his own draft stock.
While Lonzo has amazed with his play by averaging 14.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game, LaVar has caused internet uproar with his mouth.
So far LaVar has said Lonzo will be better than Stephen Curry, said he could have beaten Michael Jordan in his prime and also said he’d like to sign a $1 billion shoe deal for Lonzo and his two other sons.
Watson knows the Los Angeles basketball circuit and is up to date on the landscape thanks to his Earl Watson Elite AAU team he sponsors. And so he knows the uniqueness of the Ball brothers and their father.
“My best friend said it best: he said (LaVar) is a marketing machine,” Watson told Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “The fact that he says things that people talk about all day is brilliant. I think his son Lonzo said it best, too. He said, ‘My Dad is who he is, I just got play basketball, I can’t worry about who he is.’
“We all figure out through those quotes, especially from Lonzo, you understand that Lonzo is complete opposite, quiet, just plays basketball,” Watson added.
The Suns currently own the third-worst record in the NBA, and Lonzo is projected to go No. 2 in the upcoming draft, according to Draft Express’ recent mock.
So would Phoenix select a player whose father might just be a little too involved in his son’s affairs?
Don’t expect a fellow UCLA product to shy away from it.
“I saw a quote about LaVar said he could beat Michael Jordan … that was great,” Watson told Doug and Wolf. “We might have to tell his dad he can’t say anything like that until he beats the coaching staff in one-on-one.”
“It’ll die down eventually when the kid gets to the NBA,’ he added. “It’s unique, I guess you should say, for the sport of college basketball.”
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