LeBron James Reacts to LaVar Ball's Comments About His Kids

By Djack

 ESPN: "LeBron James directed a cease-and-desist order of sorts Tuesday to LaVar Ball, the outspoken father of three boys -- including star UCLA freshman Lonzo Ball -- who said earlier this month that his children are set up better for future success than those of the Cleveland Cavaliers' star.
"Keep my kids' name out of your mouth, keep my family out of your mouth," James told ESPN on Tuesday, as the Cavaliers practiced on UCLA's campus, two days after a victory at the Lakers.
"This is dad to dad. It's a problem now."

James' two sons, 12-year-old LeBron James Jr. and 9-year-old Bryce Maximus James, have shown plenty of promise on the AAU circuit -- to the point where eldest son "Bronny" has standing verbal scholarship offers from Duke and Kentucky, as ESPN reported last summer.

"The monsters in the NBA, their dads wasn't that good," Ball said. "They were OK, they was players, but the fact that the old [Dell] Curry wasn't no All-Star, he wasn't cold. He could shoot the ball, though. Kobe Bryant, his dad wasn't all that, that's why he's such a monster."

"You got LeBron, it's going to be hard for his kids because they are going to look at them like, 'You got to be just like your dad.' And after a while, that pressure starts sitting on you like, 'Why do I got to be just like him? What can't I just be me?' And then they are going to be like, 'Aw, you're soft, you're not that good.' Because the expectation is very, very high."

Before I even dive into what was said by both parties, I want to start out by saying LaVar Ball has flat out dominated the sports world headlines for the last two weeks. Every other day I hear some sports show, scratch that, every sports show, talking about whatever outrageous comment LaVar Ball said earlier that day. If you're sick of hearing what he's saying, stop paying any mind to it, but instead everyone responds, giving him exactly what he wants. This was his plan all along and it could've been avoided by just ignoring the crazy old man who yells outrageous opinions, instead everyone ate right into the palm of his hands, sound familiar to someone else in pop culture right now? Him and his kids are going to make a shit ton of cash, he'll probably have his own TV show, and he'll get the billion dollar shoe deal, and y'all were calling him an idiot for saying he's better than Jordan. He doesn't actually care, he just wants attention, and you idiots that are calling him an idiot are just making him rich. He's laughing straight to the bank. End rant.

Sorry, got a little carried away there, but a point had to be made. As for the LeBron comments, he's got every right to say what he did to LaVar. Say whatever you want to your own kids, but to talk about another man's yute like that, saying they'll never fill their father shoes, are words that should be expected to come with some sort of blow back. Lebron doesn't always have the best comebacks, fortunately this was not one of those times, it was short, sweet, and will amount to nothing.Pretty sure LeBron took his quote from a movie, nevertheless it's unimportant. Lebron approached it as a man, said this is father to father beef, it's a problem now, and I don't doubt that it'll leave serious repercussions on the Ball's path to success. More like this whole thing will blow over in a week, I just like to think LeBron secretly part of the NBA elites that controls the league. 

What LaVar said is pretty true, LeBron's kid won't be as good as him, the hype is too much, the pressure is too much, and the probability of them both being just as good or better than LeBron is impossible. Fact of the matter is you just can't go around talking about people's kids like that, well you can when it's someone in the public eye that can't actually kick your ass without everyone knowing. That's exactly what LaVar Ball knows, he can say whatever he wants and get away with it, if anyone decides to step up with a response he gains a ton of publicity, and then spin zones the entire discussion to make himself look reasonable. This is textbook PR people, textbook, and you're all choosing to feed into it. LeBron you played yourself, ultimately LaVar Ball comes out the winner in this dispute, nonetheless I do respect LeBron for defending his family's honor by doing absolutely nothing except making a very subtle and vague threat.