Why I Think Colin Cowherd Is Wrong About LaVar Ball Being a Fad

Way too many people showed up in Las Vegas to watch LaVar Ball man the sidelines of an AAU game that also happened to feature the best high school basketball player in the country Wednesday night, and unsurprisingly the frenzy hit the debate circuit yesterday. On Speak for Yourself, a show that in disclosure my boss, Jason McIntyre, appears on, Colin Cowherd said that LaVar Ball is a fad, just like beanie babies and fidget spinners:

“He’s a comet. He’s a blip,” Colin said. “In three years, two years, next year, nobody will care.”

Colin, of course, is not unbiased here — he was in the room for the ugliest moment we’ve seen from LaVar Ball, whereas most of the times he’s been in public he’s been jovial and seemingly generally aware that he’s just playing a character. But, that particular day, a nerve had been struck.

I don’t know if LaVar is going to be front and center in the whole conversation in three years like he’s been for the past several months, but it’s a pipe dream to think he’s just gonna go away. LaMelo Ball still has two years left in high school, and he’s going to be in the spotlight for every second of it. Part of that will be infamy as the world dissects his chucking, but it’ll be discussed nonetheless.

Facebook is currently filming a LaVar Ball reality series, and they are going to distribute it with the most powerful firehose in digital media. Highlight clips, or lowlights, are going to be pulled and discussed all over sports websites and television.

Even after LaMelo heads to UCLA, you don’t think that some of the best high school basketball players in the country will seek the limelight and play on the Big Baller AAU squad? There’s a decent chance that when this is all said and done, LaVar Ball is the John Calipari of high school basketball, where one elite talent after another passes through his team en route to superstardom.

While I agree with Colin that the level of attention currently being paid to LaVar Ball is unsustainable, barring untimely tragedy he’s not exiting our consciousness entirely anytime soon.