John Wall Vows No Mercy for Lonzo Ball; Maybe This Will Shut LaVar Ball Up for a Few Minutes
By Jason McIntyre
The Wizards haven’t lost, John Wall is averaging gaudy numbers – 24 ppg, 10 apg – and last week declared himself the “greatest shot-blocking point guard in NBA history.”
And tonight, he wants to devour rookie Lonzo Ball, because his carnival barker dad, LaVar, keeps running his mouth:
"“Nah, no mercy,” Wall responded when asked if he would show leniency to the 19-year-old rookie point guard despite his braggadocious father. “Certain matchups you really get up for. Like when you play [Golden State Warriors guard] Steph [Curry], you definitely want to have a good game,” Wall said. “I’m playing against [Ball]. [Gortat] said what he said about me. I didn’t say anything. His dad has been talking. … That makes me want to go out there and lead my team and play the best I can play.” “We didn’t say nothing about him, nothing to him, and he says, ‘The Wizards better be ready because he don’t ever lose two in a row,’” Wall continued, then scoffed at the absurdity of the father’s boast. “Like, this is the league now. It’s a different ballgame.”"
LaVar helped hype his son at UCLA, and put a spotlight on him. Helped make him a star (along with Lonzo’s game). Then you tried to orchestrate things so Lonzo would end up with the Lakers … and Lonzo landed with the Lakers.
At what point do you recede into the shadows and let your 19-year old son (Lonzo turns 20 in a few days) be his own man? He’s in a league with grown men, and they scoff at your transparent hype nonsense. In fact, they want to make your son look bad. They want to shut you up, even though they know deep down nothing will shut you up.
I’m rooting for Lonzo Ball. I’d love to see what happens if LaVar put a cork in it for two weeks. Hell, maybe we’ll find out the NBA needs him, even if it’s at the expense of his son. That would suck.