LaVar Ball said he’s pulling his sons out of Lithuania, with two games left in their regular season, after one went down with an ankle injury and the other was starved for playing time, USA Today's For the Win blog reported. He said the foreign venture was wasting their time.
The news comes less than two months before the June 21 NBA draft in which LiAngelo Ball, 19, has declared himself eligible but is not expected to be picked up by a team, For the Win said. He had begun the basketball season at UCLA, but was yanked by his father and sent to the Lithuanian team BC Vytautas.
LiAngelo Ball had become the team's leading scorer before missing games because of an ankle injury. His younger brother LaMelo Ball, 16, though, had been riding the bench, which reportedly upset LaVar Ball, For the Win said.
Sports Illustrated reported that LiAngelo Ball averaged 12.6 points while playing about 22 minutes per game and LaMelo just 6.5 points per contest in 12 minutes of action while shooting 26.8 percent from the field.
The latest Ball family news came from Lithuanian basketball journalist Donatas Urbonas, who reported on Twitter that LaVar Ball could not get along with BC Vytautas head coach Virginijus Seskus (big surprise).
The Balls came to Lithuania with great fanfare in January after LaVar pulled LiAngelo Ball out of UCLA after he was suspended indefinitely from that squad in connection with theft allegations during the Bruins trip to China, USA Today reported.
Last October, LaVar Ball pulled LaMelo Ball out of Chino Hills High School, claiming at the time that he was "not dealing with the coach over there," per USA Today. The oldest son, Lonzo, was an All-American at UCLA and finished his rookie season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
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