Posted on 11/21/2017 11:23:39 AM PST by drewh
LaVar Ball's nationally televised interview about President Donald Trump's demands for gratitude went just as people who know Ball would've expected: ridiculously. During the interview, the 49-year-old Ball often provided circular answers to CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, but ultimately resisted giving Trump thanks for the Chinese government's pardon of his son LiAngelo Ball and two other UCLA basketball players. At one point during LaVar Ball's response to Trump — which is essentially what the interview had been billed as — the father seemed to chastise Trump for even asking for thanks.
LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley, and Jalen Hill were arrested and held in China on suspicion of shoplifting. This was happening while the president happened to be in China, and he reportedly intervened to help get them out of jail. They returned to the U.S. on Tuesday, Nov. 14. The CNN interview with LaVar Ball came the day after Trump said he "should've left" LiAngelo Ball in jail, with the president taking offense with the father not giving the White House thanks. A day earlier, Ball, the polarizing father of three popular basketball players, responded "who?" when asked whether Trump deserved credit.
"If you helped, you shouldn’t even have to say anything. If I helped somebody, I don’t walk around saying, ‘You know I helped you now. C’mon now, give me some love. I helped you.'" Ball told CNN. "I'm just saying, why is that on your mind? All this stuff going on and that's on your mind, that a father didn't say thank you? And you're supposed to be the head of the — you know, you're the head of the U.S.?"
However, when Cuomo replied that it was fair of Ball to question why Trump would make others' gratitude a public talking point, Ball insisted that he was not criticizing the president. "What is the criticism [in] that? ... There's a lot of other things that's going on, man. Let him do his political affairs and let me handle my son and let's just stay in our lane," Ball said.
Ball is not only the father of LiAngelo Ball, one of three UCLA players who were caught shoplifting in China but allowed to return to campus without imprisonment, but also Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball and future UCLA player LaMelo Ball.
Before Ball was interviewed by CNN, the popular basketball dad had first spoken to ESPN. During that particular interview, Ball downplayed the notion that Trump had played a significant role in the Chinese government's decision to allow the three UCLA players to walk free.
"What was he over there for?" Ball rhetorically asked ESPN. "Don't tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out."
It was this that seemingly prompted the Nov. 19 tweet from President Trump:
Despite Ball not thanking the president, his son LiAngelo and the two teammates with whom he faced potential jail time all thanked President Trump days before the father's interview with ESPN.
That fact did nothing to deter the president from saying he should have left the students in jail, however. Meanwhile, Trump's response on Twitter did nothing to persuade Lavar Ball that he should think twice about not giving the president credit.
Pool/Getty Images News/Getty Images "Did he help the boys get out? I don’t know. I don’t know," Ball told CNN. "If I was going to thank somebody, I’d probably thank President Xi. I’d thank him. He’s in China. He’s the head, the president in China. I mean somebody can make a suggestion and somebody can do something. You’ve got people who make suggestions and people who do things."
Within sports media, Lavar Ball is a much publicized figure known for delivering interviews hallmarked by boisterous claims and promotion of the family's company, Big Baller Brand. Ball's interview with CNN, despite not being about sports, was ultimately no different.
"I'll send you some Big Baller merch," he told Chris Cuomo before signing off. "You gonna be a Big Baller for ever."
The most ignorant in a catalog of ignorant statements from this stupid man was that President Trump should have had these three shoplifters fly back with him on Air Force One. Unbelievable.
This explains his son’s behavior and where he gets his apparent sense of entitlement.
Problem is, LaVar, The Donald did not say that he wanted the 3 to say thank you. YOU stuck your unwelcome nose into his business.
LaVar means stupid in English...
You have no idea how many people are listening and learning.
And he wouldn’t have, had the father followed the same policy.
Clearly an erudite and articulate fellow who is doing a stellar job raising his kids.
His racist attitude is showing more and more.
If it had been Obama, he would be grovelling and kissing his feet......................
LaVar,
The Chinese Government is at this moment putting plans in place to starve your Shanghai and Hong Kong outlets.
You are going to pay in ways you can’t possibly understand.
“Big Baller”? What is that some kind of stupid innuendo.
You stole that from “Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector” Movie.
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
Mark Twain
lol and creating his own reality show around them, hes the Kmart version of Kris Jenner
I half expect the Obama woulda, coulda, shoulda, have done it if he was President.
Stupid dad. At the moment like this last thing you want public to know is whose sons they are. The guy stepped up for this engagement. People would forget what he said here but never forget he has shoplifter son
Stupid
Trump is addressing the lack of gratitude because he’s trying to change the culture through cheerleading like he said in his campaign.
If you ignore the problem it won’t get better. Trump is shining a spotlight on it.
Hey LaVar, I hear Trump just got a call from a very annoyed Xi.
You know, the one who gave the order to release your punk criminal son from 3-10 year sentence in a Chinese prison.
About those retail outlets in Shanghai and Hong Kong...
I saw the CCTV footage of LiAngelo Ball shoplifting the Sunglasses at Louis Vuitton. Guess he is too highfalutin for Dollar Tree shades.
When I was a kid, 50’s and 60’s, black people had names like Bill, John, Samuel, James, Linda, Sharon, Louise, etc. You could not tell their names were any different than white children. The names actually meant something and were thousands of years old in most cases.
Nowadays they make up these mangled syllables randomly strung together to make some unique sounding moniker to hang on their child for life, like Deshaquantavius.......
Ignorant ungrateful man needs to shut his big mouth .
If it had Obama those kids would still be sitting there.
Sick of these ungrateful quislings .
Aggressively stupid on display.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.