The Lakers Will Dig Into LaVar Ball's Past Before The Draft

Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton was on the Dan Patrick Show Friday to discuss his team’s strategy heading into the 2017 NBA Draft. Walton revealed the steps the franchise will take when assessing who to draft but he revealed someone with the Lakers will dig in to LaVar Ball’s history.

Patrick asked Walton if he would reach out to UCLA head coach Steve Alford to ask about LaVar’s involvement while Lonzo Ball was with the Bruins. The Lakers coach responded that he wouldn’t, but someone with the organization would.

" Luke Walton says @Lakers will contact Steve Alford to ask questions about LaVar Ball https://t.co/fl18vLPgVx pic.twitter.com/1QseU8StTX — Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) May 19, 2017 "

This shouldn’t be surprising. Despite the Lakers repeatedly saying a player’s father wouldn’t impact their evaluation of him, we all knew the truth. Someone with the organization is going to look into LaVar Ball’s entire history to help determine whether or not his son is worth having to deal with his dad.

This is standard procedure, but it might be even more extensive with the Ball family, given how controversial LaVar is. We’ll see if the team’s opinion changes on Lonzo as a result. As of now it looks like the Lakers are all-in on the young point guard.