Lakers met with LaVar Ball and asked him to ‘tone down’ Luke Walton criticisms

The Los Angeles Lakers “front office” met with LaVar Ball sometime within “the past few weeks” to ask Lonzo Ball’s father to pull back on his criticism of head coach Luke Walton, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. This was in part an effort to build a more “positive atmosphere” around Lonzo.

Shelburne cites “sources” in her report, but she also confirmed the meeting did indeed happen with LaVar himself, who said it was the “best thing” that they met.

It’s an interesting turn in the developing relationship between father, son and franchise. A report on the Lakers enforcing the “LaVar Ball rule” during home games — asking STAPLES Center security to keep media away from the friends and family waiting area after games where they’ve been eager to put a microphone in front of LaVar — came out in early December.

That was a few weeks after LaVar called Walton and the Lakers coaching staff “soft” and said they “don’t know how to coach” Lonzo. Shortly after that, LaVar was critical of both Julius Randle and Walton following the Lakers’ loss to the Golden State Warriors.

The Lakers decided they had heard enough and pow wowed with him to stop the fire from spreading. Here’s what LaVar had to say about his meeting with the Lakers (via ESPN):

LaVar Ball confirmed the meeting took place, telling ESPN, "It was the best thing, man. Everybody's going to try to make it an ego thing, like I'm trying to tell them what to do, or they're trying to tell me to tone it down. It's not about that. It's about coming together and to get a solution to this problem.

"It may sound crazy to other people, but I really just want the best for Lonzo, and the best for Lonzo is going to be what's best for the organization. Because if everybody winning, we good."

Have we heard the last of LaVar?

Please.