LaVar Ball | |
|---|---|
 Ball in 2018 | |
| Born | LaVar Christopher Ball October 23, 1967 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | West Los Angeles College Washington State University California State University, Los Angeles |
| Occupation(s) | Co-founder and CEO of Big Baller Brand |
| Children | 3 (Lonzo, LiAngelo, LaMelo) |
|
American football career | |
| No. 99 | |
| Position: | Tight end |
| Personal information | |
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
| Weight: | 250 lb (113 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Canoga Park (CA) |
| College: | Cal State-Los Angeles |
| Undrafted: | 1994 |
| Career history | |
| |
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
LaVar Christopher Ball (born October 23, 1967)[1] is an American businessman. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of the sports apparel company Big Baller Brand and founder of the now defunct Junior Basketball Association (JBA).[2] He is the father of three professional basketball players: Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo, Greensboro Swarm shooting guard LiAngelo and Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo.
Ball played basketball and football while at Canoga Park High School, going on to play basketball at the collegiate level for West Los Angeles College, Washington State and Cal State Los Angeles. He also played football at Long Beach City College for a season. He had a brief professional career as a tight end with the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football, where he had a total of 28 kickoff return yards, and no receptions. He was a practice squad member of the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers in 1995, but never played an official regular season game in the National Football League.
Following a series of bold statements in the spring of 2017, Ball began repeatedly making national sports headlines. His early remarks included saying that his son Lonzo was better than Stephen Curry and claiming that he himself could defeat Michael Jordan one-on-one in basketball. He was subject to both praise and criticism as he continued making similar comments, some of which involved his company, Big Baller Brand. Ball has made several appearances on national TV and has routinely drawn attention from major sports media outlets. He has also been in the spotlight for his criticism of his sons' teams, most notably the Lakers for their treatment of Lonzo, as well as for his exchange with U.S. President Donald Trump after LiAngelo was detained in China for shoplifting.
- ^ "LaVar Ball Goes Undercover on Reddit, YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia – Actually Me". GQ. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
- ^ Rovell, Darren (March 14, 2017). "LaVar Ball wants to package 3 sons for $1 billion shoe deal". ESPN. Retrieved March 16, 2017.