LaVar Ball says he won’t shut up until the Lakers draft Lonzo Ball

LaVar Ball’s desire for his son Lonzo Ball to be drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers is hardly a secret. In the lead-up to the 2017 NBA Draft, the elder Ball has already said he wants his son to end up on the Lakers and that if he did it would “change the NBA.”

In a longer feature story about the Ball family by Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, LaVar Ball doubled down on his desire to see his son wear purple and gold.

"Oh, he's going to be a Laker," Ball told Shelburne of his eldest son. "I'm going to keep talking about it until it happens."

With the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery taking place Tuesday, LaVar Ball may only have a few more chances to talk about it. The Lakers have a little lower than a coin flip’s chance to retain their top-three protected first-round pick (46.9 percent), and if they don’t, then LaVar Ball would (presumably) have to stop trying to force Lonzo Ball to the Lakers for a while.

But what if he didn’t? What if the Lakers lost their pick, or kept it and didn’t select Lonzo Ball? Would LaVar Ball start openly campaigning for a trade on Twitter or in media appearances? Would he try to convince his son to hold out, or go play in Europe? Would the family just quit basketball entirely and just make their own reality show about how to sell overpriced, knockoff Kobes?

Probably not, but given that the Lakers a) may not keep their pick and b) may not select Lonzo Ball if they do, it’s going to be fascinating to see how LaVar Ball reacts. As he told Shelburne, it’s unlikely to be by no longer talking.

Harrison Faigen is co-host of the Locked on Lakers podcast (subscribe here), and you can follow him on Twitter at @hmfaigen.