By Alex Raskin, Sports News Editor for DailyMail.com
While basketball fans may know LaMelo Ball as the younger brother of New Orleans Pelicans point guard Lonzo, the rest of the country may be more familiar with his father LaVar and the middle Ball brother, LiAngleo, who was famously arrested in China for shoplifting in 2017.
That arrest sparked a war of words between the notoriously outspoken LaVar and President Donald Trump, who took credit for negotiating the release of LiAngelo and two of his UCLA teammates from house arrest at their hotel in Hangzhou.
LaVar publicly disputed Trump’s role in the release of his son, who was on a team trip to China and was caught stealing sunglasses from several high-end boutiques near Shanghai.
While basketball fans may know LaMelo Ball (right) as the younger brother of New Orleans Pelicans point guard Lonzo, the rest of the country may be more familiar with his father LaVar (left) and the middle Ball brother, LiAngleo, who was famously arrested in China for shoplifting in 2017
LiAngelo’s arrest in China sparked a war of words between the notoriously outspoken LaVar and President Donald Trump, who took credit for negotiating the release of the three UCLA teammates from house arrest at their hotel in Hangzhou
LaVar (left) publicly disputed Trump’s role in the release of his son, LiAngelo (right), who was on a team trip to China when he was caught stealing sunglasses from several high-end boutiques near Shanghai. LiAngelo went undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft
Trump quickly responded on Twitter, saying he should have left LiAngelo in China.
‘Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal,’ Trump tweeted. ‘I should have left them in jail!’
LiAngelo did not follow Lonzo’s footsteps into the NBA, instead briefly signing with his younger brother LaMelo in Lithuania. LaVar, meanwhile, has struggled to get his ‘Big Baller Brand’ apparel company off the ground amid accusations of theft against one business partner.
LaMelo Ball (right) is the younger brother of Pelicans point guard Lonzo (left)
Never one to walk away from an argument, LaVar Ball took another swing at Trump on Wednesday, telling the BroBible podcast that the President’s election loss was the result of their feud.
‘If he would’ve never act a fool, he’d still be president,’ Ball said, while referencing a Big Baller Brand shoe he sent the President. ‘I would’ve been there with him, I woulda helped him out. You wanna act crazy with the Big Baller, guess what happens? Anybody real crazy with me don’t last long. … anyone messed with Big Ballers in the long run, it’s not gonna work out for you.
‘If Trump would’ve accepted my shoes and not actin’ a fool, he would still be president. Now he gotta go. Oh well.’
LaMelo, who once scored 92 points in a high school game in Southern California, decided against attending college, perhaps because he would have been ineligible after briefly signing with his father’s Big Baller Brand. (Lonzo has cut ties with the company)
Instead of following Lonzo and LiAngelo’s path to UCLA, LaMelo instead signed with the Illawarra Hawks of the Australia’s National Basketball League, winning rookie of the year and putting himself into consideration for the top pick of Wednesday’s draft.
