Rumors circulated even prior to LaMelo Ball’s injury that he would not be long for the National Basketball League. His strong play paired with Illawarra’s poor record raised questions about whether the injury risk was worth seeing out the season.
Ball’s injury offered a stronger excuse for an exit strategy from the league. While all parties pushed back on the idea that Ball would leave the franchise, it did little to silence those rumors.
LaVar Ball began a recent media blitz in Australia with a stop on The Daily Telegraph’s The Big Chat and was offered a chance to shoot down the rumors himself. Host Adam Mobbs asked Ball where they stood in regards to Ball’s injury and his future in the league.
“Where we stand on that is it’s (dependent) on how the injury heals. You have to make speculation for the media. It keeps the buzz going…My thing is this, I said ‘Melo, if you 80%, don’t come back. If you’re 100%, whether there’s one game, five games or no games left, that’s when you come back. But don’t rush in and have people trying to push you to come back ahead of time.'”
Mobbs followed it up by pushing more directly on the matter, asking if LaMelo would finish the league if he was 100% healthy.
“Yes. Yes. You like to finish what you start. Go ahead and finish that…You don’t want to be (thinking) like ‘Oh, I might get hurt. I don’t want to do this.’ If you’re thinking like that, don’t play. This is a physical sport. It comes with the territory.”
LaVar’s quotes don’t offer much clarity into whether Ball will be back this season. The “if he’s 100%” excuse is one that could easily translate into Ball never returning to the court. It’s easy to see a scenario where Ball stays around the team until season’s end without actually returning to the court, especially given that the Hawks are now two games back of eighth place.
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