Why There’s No Reason To Get Worked Up About LaVar Ball Saying Lonzo Ball Could Beat LeBron James

LaVar Ball is a great father and if you believe he’s doing a disservice to his sons, namely Lonzo Ball you’re kidding yourself. So what he says his son could beat LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers?

You’re going to be hearing about LaVar Ball for the next 10 years so I might as well give my take on what he’s said about Lonzo Ball beating LeBron James (and the Cleveland Cavaliers).

When he says that his sons could be better than James’ sons, (he made good points about the sons of NBA players as not many were as memorable as their father, although LeBron James Jr. and Bryce Maximus James are certainly talented for their age) or that Lonzo Ball could beat James because he thinks Lonzo is the best player on the planet, he isn’t being crazy.

He isn’t making it harder for his kids to succeed.

He isn’t living vicariously through his kids.

He’s showing an unwavering level of support and an incredible level of confidence in his children. He’s being the type of parent that a lot of children wished they had. He, like the exuberant parent you hear in the stands, is cheering his kids on.

So what he said he could beat Michael Jordan? It was playful trash talk. It was something Jordan might say if he and LaVar Ball had switched roles based on what we know about Jordan’s trash-talking.

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It’s possible that Ball believes if he had someone as vocal about his abilities when he was at college he would have gotten more playing time and paved out a successful NBA career. While his teammates don’t think he could beat Jordan, they have said he was big, strong and an exceptional athlete.

In any case, Father Ball isn’t harming his kids by being supportive. In fact, he’s probably helping them. When they lose confidence after a bad game or if they fall in the draft, LaVar will be the first to stand behind them and boost their confidence right back up. A lot of times, once players lose confidence in themselves their play suffers and compounds the issue.

Think about Austin Rivers and how his career has transformed after ending up on a team coached by his dad, Doc Rivers. Doc had no reason to have confidence in Rivers based on what he’d seen in the NBA up to that point. Rivers didn’t do anything spectacular in his first two seasons with the Clippers either, giving him four straight seasons of below-average production.

Yet, because Doc believed in his son, Rivers was given a different chance than many players have had. He’s now averaging 12.1 points per game and shooting 44.1 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from three-point range. All numbers are significant jumps from his career averages of 8.4 points per game, 41.7 percent shooting from the field and 38.7 percent shooting from three-point range. He’s had 11 games where he scored 20 or more points this season.

Ball is harmless because he’s playful. Ball is also helpful because he’s confident enough for his kids to never worry about losing confidence.

He’s also doing exactly what he said in building a brand for the Ball brothers. No matter how crazy his antics may seem, we’re talking about the Ball family as much as Jordan was talked about before he was drafted.

For the record, here’s the full quote from Father Ball, gathered by Sean Gregory of Time Magazine.

"“To me Zo is the best player in the world,” LaVar says. Yes, even better than all-stars LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. “I don’t know if he can beat them one on one,” Ball says, conceding the NBA stars are stronger than his son, the Pac-12 player of the year and an expected top pick in the upcoming NBA draft. “But I know he can beat them 5 on 5.”"

He’s not even saying that they’re the better overall players just that he could lead a team to a victory over the best player in the world and the ultra-competitive triple-double machine who is Russell Westbrook. Considering that the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder have a combined 51 losses this season, that’s not absurd.

That’s basketball.

I’m not here to say that any of the Ball brothers will be All-Stars, although all three of them make a lot of threes, Lonzo has a great basketball IQ combined with the ability to make deft passes, and LaMelo has great quickness and sensational ball-handling. I’m only saying that their father is right to believe in his kids this much.

The alternative? Ball telling his kids that they wouldn’t be great as Jordan, LeBron or Steph Curry? How’s that a better option?

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What do you think of LaVar Ball the father? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.