Category: LiAngelo Ball

Lonzo Ball posts strong message of support to Instagram from BLM protest in Chino Hills

Lonzo, LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball were the latest to show their support of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests by attending one in Chino Hills.

Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball were the latest athletes to join in peaceful protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minnesota. The three brothers attended a local Black Lives Matter rally at Chino Hills on Sunday, one day after the likes of Jaylen Brown, Malcolm Brogdon, JR Smith, Jordan Clarkson and others took the streets as part of other protests across the country.

Lonzo also took to Instagram to share a picture and his unfiltered thoughts on the matters.

Lonzo’s manager and close friend Darren Moore also shared a post with the same picture and a different caption.

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Make a change ✊🏽

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LaMelo shared a video to his Instagram from the protest as well alongside his brothers.

LaMelo and Lonzo have been indirectly active in their support of the protests and seeking justice for Floyd. Both had shared Instagram posts to their Stories over the past week while also retweeting multiple tweets on Twitter as well. This, though, is the first time either has directly shown their support either via post or during in-person protests.

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Report: NBA to continue improvements to G League for 2020-21 season

The NBA continued revamping the G League on Friday by agreeing to changes in accommodations to players on road trips.

As the NBA continues to revamp the G League in response to the NBL’s Next Star program, new changes were reported on Friday. The Athletic’s Shams Charania detailed new changes the NBA would be making on the off-court aspects of the G League.

Beginning next season, G League teams will be required to reserve hotel separate hotel rooms for players on the road. Until now, players shared hotel rooms during road trips. The league will also elevate daily per diems to $15 per player.

The news was likely voted on during the NBA’s Board of Governors meeting which also saw the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery and Draft Combine postponed indefinitely.

The G League has already seen expansive changes in recent weeks, though those have been far more notable with Jalen Green’s decision to join the league. Though the league denied it came as a result of the NBL’s Next Stars program, the move came one year after LaMelo Ball and R.J. Hampton, two high-profile prospects, spurned the NCAA and G League for Australia.

LiAngelo Ball landed in the G League after an uphill battle last season, starting with a contract as a practice player with the Oklahoma City Blue to a permanent deal to remain with the franchise. He never took the court in a G League game, though, as the league season came to an end after just one game with him on the roster.

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WATCH: Lonzo Ball runs football routes against LaMelo, drops dimes as QB

With basketball on hold, Lonzo Ball picked up a new sport by taking on his brother LaMelo in football.

The Ball brothers have tried many things to take up their time during the global lockdown, mostly involving dancing on Instagram and swimming in the Big Baller mansion pool. On Wednesday, the brothers took up a new activity of the schoolyard variety in football.

In lieu of a full-blown game, Lonzo and LaMelo took turns running routes against one another. And as tends to be the case, the big brother got the better of little brother. Repeatedly.

Lonzo reveled in the chance to showcase his dominance by posting it all to his Instagram story.

None of the Ball brothers showcased their talents on the gridiron during their time in high school. However, as he showcased, Ball’s passing ability is just a pinpoint whether it’s a football or a basketball.

Lonzo’s trash-talking is also impressive. While he’s quiet and typically mild-mannered on the NBA court, around his family, he’s quite the opposite and he was sure to let his brothers have it.

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Report: Ball brothers to sign with Roc Nation, Raymond Brothers

After multiple weeks of searching for representation, the Ball family will sign with Roc Nation and Raymond Brothers, Roc Nation’s President of Basketball.

After multiple weeks of searching for representation, the Ball family will sign with Roc Nation and Raymond Brothers, Roc Nation’s President of Basketball, as reported by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony on Monday.

Givony spoke with Jermaine Jackson, LaMelo Ball’s manager, on the decision to sign with Roc Nation.

“This was a family decision. This is now an extended family. They put together a beautiful game plan with Jay-Z. The basketball game is about to change. They are going to create something totally new.”

Roc Nation Sports was founded by music mogul Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter was founded in 2013, kickstarted by Robinson Cano’s signing with the New York Yankees. Since that date, it has grown to represent athletes such as Kyrie Irving, Markelle Fultz and Saquon Barkley.

Jackson and LaMelo appeared to have held a meeting with Roc Nation in late February. Pictures posted by Jackson to a secondary Instagram account showed Carter’s private jet.

The three brothers were formerly represented by Creative Artists Agency. The trio left the agency in early March. Some reports suggested that Leon Rose, who potentially represented LaMelo, leaving to take a front office position with the Knicks led to departure of the family.

The move to Roc Nation comes at a critical time with the family. Lonzo can begin negotiating an extension in the upcoming off-season. LiAngelo, meanwhile, will be looking at potential Summer League and G League deals in the off-season and into next season as well. And, most obvious, LaMelo will be one of the top draft picks in the 2020 NBA Draft.

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Jaden Owens to transfer from UCLA to Baylor after freshman season

After a rocky freshman season, Jaden Owens confirmed on Tuesday that should transfer away from UCLA to Baylor.

After a rocky freshman season in Los Angeles, point guard Jaden Owens confirmed on Tuesday that she would be transferring from UCLA to Baylor. Owens, one of the top recruits in the 2019 class, played in 27 games for the Bruins but averaged a hair under 10 minutes per game for a UCLA side that went 26-5.

During her freshman season, Owens struggled to find time on the court behind Pac-12 All-Conference senior guard Japreece Dean anchoring the starting role. Owens played more than 10 minutes just once in the final eight games of the season while averaging 2.6 points and 1.2 assists.

Baylor pursued Owens, a native of Texas, during her recruitment process as did Louisville, Ohio State, Texas and Mississippi State. Coming out of high school, ESPN ranked Owens as the No. 13 recruit nationally in the 2019 class.

ESPN’s Graham Hays spoke with Owens, who explained her decision to choose Baylor.

“It’s a winning program, and when you go there you have no other expectations but to win. It’s just going somewhere with great tradition, that wants to win and that’s close to home.”

Owens is the long-time girlfriend of LiAngelo Ball. The two featured heavily in the most recent seasons of the family’s Facebook series “Ball in the Family.”

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LaVar Ball sees his three sons as the face of the NBA in the near future

With each of his kids nearing a spot in the NBA, LaVar Ball sees a bright future for Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo.

Before the sports calendar worldwide came to a grinding halt in mid-March, LaVar Ball appeared set to pull off another improbable feat. With LiAngelo finding his footing in the G League, Lonzo breaking out with the Pelicans and LaMelo appearing destined to be a top-five pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, all three sons were set to play professionally with the shot at each being in the league.

Never the one to aim small, LaVar is not settled with each potentially being in the league but instead is already aiming even bigger. During his house tour with Nate Robinson for The Player’s Tribune, Ball was asked by Robinson what he sees for the future of his sons.

“I see my boys, in the near future man, they’re going to be the face of the NBA. Everybody’s trying to create the big three. They’ve been the big three since they’ve been babies. And people are telling me ‘Man, you know the odds of all three of your boys being on the same team?’ and I say ‘Yeah, probably the same odds of me coming into the NBA with my own brand.’ Don’t tell me nothing about no odds.”

Even with Lonzo blossoming and improving this season, it’s hard to see him casting a brighter light than teammate Zion Williamson. LiAngelo, meanwhile, will struggle to find a consistent role in the league.

LaMelo presents the best, and likely only opportunity, for LaVar to have a son that could be a face of the league in any way. Positioned as the potential No. 1 pick, LaMelo has the most star power of any of his brothers and could be the most skilled.

Getting three sons into the league is a massive accomplishment itself. Even if Ball, ever the optimist, aims even higher, it shouldn’t diminish what he and his sons have been able to do so far.

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WATCH: Lonzo, LiAngelo, LaMelo Ball dance to ‘Cupid Shuffle’ on Instagram

Lonzo Ball took to Instagram against on Tuesday night to show off his dance moves, this time breaking it down to ‘Cupid Shuffle.’

Many people have taken to new habits or hobbies during the current global lockdown. For Lonzo Ball, his brothers and their friends, dancing has been their go-to activity.

On Monday, Lonzo posted a video of him dancing to Drake’s new hit song “Toosie Slide” while also debuting an impressive Michael Jackson dance impression as well. On Tuesday, he and his brothers went more old school by breaking it down to ‘Cupid Shuffle’ posted onto Lonzo’s Instagram.

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⁉️ #LateNightAvengers

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The Ball brothers were joined by cousin Andre Ball and former Chino Hills teammate Tomi Babatunde. That wasn’t the only highlight of the night as Lonzo posted to his Instagram story a dancing fail of LaMelo’s as well.

The Ball brothers have spent the quarantine time together and with friends while practicing some pretty subpar social distancing. But they are working on their dancing, which should lead to some nice pre-game routines once the NBA restarts.

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NBA G League season expected to be canceled, players to be paid through end of schedule

While the NBA’s season remains in limbo, the G League season looks set to be canceled with one month left on the schedule.

In a particularly cruel twist of fate to LiAngelo Ball, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Malika Andrews reported on Sunday that the G League season would likely be canceled.

The league postponed its season indefinitely, along with the NBA, on Wednesday following the positive test result for the coronavirus from Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert. Unlike the NBA, though, the G League is not a profitable venture and, given the expected long wait until any sports league resumes, canceling the season was viewed as the best option moving forward.

While the news is damning for all parties involved, it’s particularly frustrating for Ball. After earning his way onto the OKC Blue G League roster as serving as a practice player for two months, Ball’s official G League career lasted all of one game in which he did not play in on Wednesday.

It’s yet another setback for Ball’s professional career. Not only will the G League season be canceled but the Summer League, another area Ball could have likely made an impression on future teams, will be severely postponed or even potentially canceled as well given the uncertainty of when the league will return.

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LaVar Ball says LiAngelo would have been lottery pick if not for China incident

LaVar Ball recent spoke in an interview about LiAngelo Ball signing with the Oklahoma City Blue and his path to get there.

While Lonzo and LaMelo Ball have proven to be NBA-caliber players, LiAngelo Ball has been far off the mark for much of his amateur and professional career. The middle of the Ball brothers, LiAngelo has a vastly different skill set than either of his brothers.

While both Lonzo and LaMelo excel with the ball in their hands as playmaking guards, LiAngelo has been more of a spot-up shooter that, actually, complements his brother’s skillsets.

LiAngelo, though, has never been a particularly efficient shooter and, as a result, has struggled to find a steady professional career. His incident in China added a black cloud over his career and held him back even further.

However, he’s finally broken through in recent months, first joining Oklahoma City’s G League affiliate as a practice player before being extended and signing a G League contract with the OKC Blue.

During an interview with Forbes, LaVar talked about LiAngelo signing with a G League team and how big of an accomplishment that was.

“It wasn’t a big deal because here’s the thing; all my boys are going to go pro. So Gelo went a different direction, that means he has to take a different route. But they all cut from the same cloth. If Gelo didn’t do what he did, he would have been a lottery pick too. It’s not like I’m going to have two boys living in my house saying, ‘Oh nah I’m not going to work out like that.'”

LiAngelo was nowhere nears a lottery-level talent and LaVar claiming so also discredits the hard work LiAngelo put into getting into the G League. To go from practice player to earning a contract is no small feat. Saying it’s not a big deal because he’s a lottery talent diminishes that.

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LiAngelo Ball says he believes he’s as good as brothers Lonzo, LaMelo

In his first comments since signing with the Oklahoma City Blue, LiAngelo Ball expressed immense confidence in himself.

After earning his way into a G League contract and onto the Oklahoma City Blue roster in the last week, LiAngelo Ball broke his silence about his path into the NBA.

Most notable of his quotes with The Oklahoman reporter Joe Mussatto was his proclamation that he is as good as brothers Lonzo and LaMelo.

“I know I’m just as good as them because I grew up training with them. If they can get it done I feel like I can do it too. That just motivates me more.”

For as much as the rankings matter, LiAngelo was the lowest-rated recruit of the trio of brothers. According to 247Sports, Lonzo was a five-star recruit ranked No. 3 in his class and LaMelo was also a five-star recruit ranked No. 23 in his class. LiAngelo, meanwhile, was a three-star recruit ranked No. 226 nationally.

LiAngelo has certainly improved since the days of high school but he has never been regarded as a player as good as either of his brothers. He’s a far more one-dimensional player with his only real plus-ability relative to the NBA is his three-point shooting.

But LiAngelo will get his chance to prove his talent on his biggest stage yet as he takes part in the final month of the G League season. If he’s right about himself, it could lead to a much bigger role moving forward.

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