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The Los Angeles Lakers reportedly weren’t overly impressed with UCLA guard Lonzo Ball’s workout when they brought him in for a closer look this week during the lead-up to the 2017 NBA Draft.
In the least surprising development of all time, that news has done nothing to quell his father LaVar Ball’s confidence that he’ll be taken by the Lakers with the No. 2 pick on June 22.
The Big Baller Dad spoke to Jeff Goodman of ESPN in a wide-ranging interview that touched on the health of his wife, his parenting style and whether or not he regrets any negative headlines he’s created over the past few months, but for once it wasn’t his guarantee of Lonzo Ball being taken by the Lakers. That’s become mundane now, and so LaVar Ball instead outlined his full vision, in which his younger two sons, LaMelo and LiAngelo, end up wearing purple and gold as well:
LiAngelo will be a freshman this season at UCLA, and although LaVar Ball said he expects his middle son to average 25 points per game, he wasn't heralded coming out of high school despite averaging more than 30 points per game this past season.
Multiple NBA executives said the 6-foot-5 LiAngelo, whose strength is shooting the ball, isn't even on their draft boards.
"All my boys are gonna be one-and-done. Gelo [LiAngelo] is going [to] be one-and-done whether he's good or bad," LaVar said. "I'm going to put him in the draft, hope they don't take him. Bring him into the Lakers as a free agent, let him wind up with his brother and watch how good they play together."
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The youngest son, LaMelo, will be a junior at Chino Hills High. He's a 6-foot-5 guard who is known for his flashy play and ability to shoot the ball from deep.
"I'm going to do the same thing with Melo," LaVar said. "And we get three of the Ball boys on the Lakers together, and we gonna go championship, championship, championship, championship, championship. You think I'm playing? You saw what they did in high school."
TL;DR? Here is the simplified version of the LaVar Ball Path to Making the Lakers Great Again™:
Step One: Have his sons play in College.
Step Two: Get NBA teams to not draft them (which reportedly may not be a problem if those executives that don’t have the middle Ball brother on their draft board are being honest).
Step Three: Play with Lonzo Ball with the Lakers and become magically good again.
Step Four: Sell more $500 shoes.
Step Five: Championship.
To quote Dodgeball: “It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off from them.”
Here is an updating list of every player the Lakers have worked out or met with. Harrison Faigen is co-host of the Locked on Lakers podcast (subscribe here, or listen to our latest episode below), and you can follow him on Twitter at @hmfaigen.