Lakers Draft News: Larry Nance, Jr. explains why he respects LaVar Ball's relationship with Lonzo

Lonzo Ball and the Los Angeles Lakers are the tag team champions of sports media content after the purple and gold moved up to snag the No. 2 pick of the 2017 NBA Draft. Just about every mock draft projects Lonzo to the Lakers, and just about every Laker official that’s gotten in front of a microphone has to talk about the Ball family.

Add Larry Nance, Jr. to the list of Lakers who’ve given their two cents on Lonzo. Nance, Jr. stopped by ESPN Los Angeles 710, sharing his thoughts not only on Lonzo’s game, but LaVar’s involvement.

“He seems awesome,” Nance, Jr. said of Lonzo. ”A pass-first guy, can knock down the open shot. Kind of the whole package. if you're gonna go top-five you kind of have to be.“

Larry’s thoughts on Lonzo aren’t exactly groundbreaking, but the excitement in his voice seems genuine. The young Lakers already on the squad are probably all hyped about getting another lottery talent as a teammate, Lonzo or otherwise, though.

Nance, Jr.’s thoughts on why he respects how LaVar fits into the picture are bit more interesting, though. Larry has no problem with the Ball family dynamic.

“With his dad, that's a supportive parent. Each parent chooses to support their kids in different ways, and that's his way. Whether you agree with or disagree with it, he believes in his kid 100 percent, and you gotta respect that,” Nance, Jr. said.

That’s a reasonable stance to have in a vacuum. There’s no doubt that LaVar unconditionally supports his children and family, and that’s admirable no matter how you cut it up. Whether all of the support he offers - and how he offers said support - is helpful to Lonzo is an entirely different thing. That’s where most people get hung up on the situation.

Does this matter in the grand scheme of things? Not really, but it’s some perspective to chew on from Nance, Jr., who grew up with the support of his father to become a legitimate NBA player on his own.

Besides, thinking about Lonzo and Leaping Larry in the open court is fun if nothing else.