LaVar Ball doesn’t want his sons to play for the Lakers

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

LaVar Ball hopes that his three sons Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo will join forces on an NBA team located in Los Angeles, but that team isn’t the Los Angeles Lakers.

“I want ’em all to play for the [Los Angeles] Clippers,” LaVar Ball said. “I want ’em all to play for the Clippers. Yeah — I want ’em all to play for the Clippers. Yeah, ’cause here’s the thing — I don’t wanna go back to the Lakers on the fact that how you did Lonzo. So why would I bring the other two? Let’s go from Steve Ballmer — that’s my guy. I like him — like his style. Yes, that’s why I tell him, ‘My last name Ball, his last name Ballmer. We supposed to ball more.'”

LaMelo Ball was the most productive player of LaVar Ball’s sons last season. He was limited to only 22 games during the regular season but averaged 23.9 points and 8.0 assists per game.

Another one of LaVar Ball’s three sons isn’t even in the NBA at the moment. LiAngelo Ball last played professional basketball with a Mexican team called the Astros de Jalisco.

The Lakers had high expectations for Lonzo Ball after the team drafted him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. In his one season of college basketball at the University of California, Los Angeles, he showcased a real knack for playmaking and pulling down rebounds. On top of that, he averaged 14.6 points per game and shot 41.2 percent from 3-point range.

However, Lonzo Ball spent just two seasons playing for the Lakers, and he never molded into a franchise player during his time with the storied franchise. It’s worth noting that he was still an effective passer, rebounder and defender for Los Angeles, but he left a lot to be desired from a scoring standpoint.

The 26-year-old shot only 38.0 percent from the field and 31.5 percent from 3-point range across 99 total games. Lonzo Ball also shot the ball inefficiently from the charity stripe as a Laker, considering only 43.7 percent of his free-throw attempts found the bottom of the net.

Following Lonzo Ball’s sophomore season in the NBA, the Lakers decided to trade him to the New Orleans Pelicans in a three-team deal that sent star big man Anthony Davis to Los Angeles.

The floor general then spent the next two seasons in New Orleans before he joined the Chicago Bulls prior to the 2021-22 season in a sign-and-trade deal.

Despite the fact that Lonzo Ball has been a member of the Bulls since the 2021-22 campaign, he has played only 35 games with the franchise due to knee injuries.

Additionally, Lonzo Ball missed the entirety of the 2022-23 season and 2023-24 campaign.