Posted on 11/21/2017 12:38:59 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Basketball dad LaVar Ball says he would've thanked President Donald Trump for getting his son out of China if he had used Air Force One.
Ball was on CNN Monday night when he made the claim. After several back-and-forths, Ball refused to thank President Trump for his help in getting LiAngelo Ball and his UCLA Bruins basketball teammates out of China.
Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill were questioned about allegedly stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store earlier this month in Hangzhou. They were later arrested and released on bail. Trump said he coordinated with Chinese President Xi Jinping to have the student athletes released.
On Nov. 15 he tweeted that he wondered if the three Bruins would thank him. Trump also said that the players "were headed for 10 years in jail."
The players held a news conference after they arrived back in the United States, thanking President Trump, among other parties, for their release. They admitted guilt and the charges have since been withdrawn by Chinese authorities. They were indefinitely suspended by the school.
Trump went on to criticize LaVar Ball and said that he "should have left" the players in jail.
"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 Sunday. "I should have left them in jail!"
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
Ball responded last week during an interview with ESPN, questioning why Trump was over in China.
"Shoplifting is a very big deal in China, as it should be [5-10 years in jail], but not to father LaVar," Trump tweeted Sunday. "Should have gotten his son out during my next trip to China instead. China told them why they were released. Very ungrateful!"
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders discussed the topic Monday, saying President Trump's comment about leaving them in jail was "rhetorical."
Ball was on CNN Tonight with Don Lemon Monday. He discussed his son LiAngelo and President Trump with stand-in host Chris Cuomo.
He began the interview saying he would never have imagined discussing geopolitics and the President of the United States on CNN.
"Never in my wildest dreams," Ball said.
(TWEET-AT-LINK)
Ball was asked if him not thanking the president was disrespectful.
"When somebody asks me a question, that's not disrespectful if I feel nobody did anything," Ball said. "I don't have to go around saying thank you to everybody."
Ball said there are a lot of "other matters to go around for the president to deal with that are political ... as far as me, let me deal with my son and let him do what he's going to do."
Ball also said that he doesn't have doubts about what Trump did, but he has "doubts about what he didn't do."
"I would have said thank you if he would have put him on his plane and took him home. Then I would have said, 'Thank you Mr. Trump for taking my boys out of China and getting them back to the U.S.' There is a lot of room on that plane. I would have said, thank you, kindly for that."
Despite going on air and talking to various national media outlets over the past year, Ball kept saying he wanted people to "leave him alone."
The Big Baller Brand CEO has 222,000 Twitter followers, more than LiAngelo Ball, but about half as many as Los Angeles Lakers rookie and oldest son Lonzo Ball.
He doesn’t think Trump did anything to help his son, despite it being obvious. But he’s not a racist or at least a jerk?
LaVar Ball just supported the stereotype.
“You should tweet that at him.”
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I would if I did any social media thingees. I’m off the social media grid.
This 18 year old goes to China and thinks it was OK to steal? that is the most glaring part of this story.
Yes, and La Var wanted the President to kiss his you know what as well. What a sense of entitlement.
Do we call this douche Lo Ball? This guy is an ass. Keep opening your mouth......and we will be anointing Trump’s second term next year.
Yeah. it’s not required that he be any kind of a Trump supporter, but a simple “thank you” shouldn’t be too much for him to utter.
There was a delay in the players thanking Trump- in fact that did not happen until after Trump originally tweeted that he had received no thanks.
The dad of one of the players is the one running his mouth now.
la var is such an absolute feral moron. The only ride his poorly-raised criminal son will probably get is a ride to jail in a paddy wagon for crimes committed. What a loser of a father. Obviously, this fool is a racist gibmedat.
They Thanked President Trump at the very end of their list, but put him with the “US Government.” They never singled out his work, while referring to their theft as a “mistake.”
This reminds me of Michelle:
“I can finally say I’m proud of America”
After what?
After the country made her husband PRESIDENT OF THE USA..!
I mean, what do we do..?
Make them ALL President..?
Ridiculous — you can’t make these people happy.
Yeah, and LaVar also runs his mouth all over Youtube so that’s typical of him, even in the comment sections. Entitled idiot doesn’t even begin to explain him.
CGato
No the other article I read was the 3 ball players did not thank Trump at all. But now the media is saying that they did when they held the press conference?
LaVar’s eldest son is currently doing a bang-up defensive impersonation of a subway turnstile in the NBA.
Maybe he's also unusually stupid in addition to being unusualyy arrogant and terminally ungrateful. Maybe he believed Obama was Emperor, and now so is Trump.
I wonder if his next mouth-off will be at the University for suspending his sticky fingered offspring.
I certainly won’t take you bet. But having a pool on which Ball family member goes to prison first would be a fun bet.
“Maybe he’s also unusually stupid in addition to being unusualyy arrogant and terminally ungrateful. Maybe he believed Obama was Emperor, and now so is Trump.”
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Could be, but it’s kinda understandable; Obama also believed himself to be Emperor.
Any trash on Airforce One is usually disposed of before takeoff.
...LaVar Ball wanted President Trump to fly son out of China on Air Force One...
But somebody would have had to frisk the dude upon exit to recover all of the AF-1 bling that he had pilfered on the way home.
We probably saved the taxpayers more money than the plane ticket would have cost!
Probably more than one.
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