LeBron issues warning shot to outspoken LaVar

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James directed a cease-and-desist order of sorts on Tuesday to LaVar Ball, the outspoken father of three — including star UCLA freshman Lonzo Ball — who said earlier this month that his children are set up better for future success than those of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ star.
“Keep my kids’ name out of your mouth. Keep my family out of your mouth,” James said of LaVar Ball to ESPN on Tuesday, as the Cavaliers practiced on UCLA’s campus, two days after a road victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
“This is dad to dad. It’s a problem now.”
James’ two sons, 12-year-old LeBron James Jr and 9-year-old Bryce Maximus James, have shown plenty of promise on the AAU circuit — to the point where the eldest son, “Bronny,” has standing verbal scholarship offers from Duke and Kentucky, as ESPN reported last summer.
The Ball family includes Lonzo Ball and his two younger brothers, 18-year-old LiAngelo and 15-year-old LaMelo, both of whom will attend UCLA on scholarships in the coming years.
LaVar Ball has been outspoken on a number of topics regarding his children in recent months, and he brought James’ family into the conversation while appearing on a recent episode of the In the Zone with Chris Broussard podcast.
During the appearance, Ball suggested his sons were better set up for future success in basketball than James’ because the four-time NBA MVP’s pedigree will be too much for them to live up to.
“The monsters in the NBA, their dads wasn’t that good,” Ball said. “They were OK, they was players, but the fact that the old [Dell] Curry wasn’t no All-Star, he wasn’t cold. He could shoot the ball, though. Kobe Bryant, his dad wasn’t all that, that’s why he’s such a monster.
“You got LeBron, it’s going to be hard for his kids because they are going to look at them like, ‘You got to be just like your dad.’ And after a while, that pressure starts sitting on you like, ‘Why do I got to be just like him? What can’t I just be me?’ And then they are going to be like, ‘Aw, you’re soft, you’re not that good.’ Because the expectation is very, very high.”
Ball, a former professional football player, also said that James’ success would preclude him from helping his sons develop their own playing careers.
On Tuesday night, following James’ retort, Ball said he doesn’t have a problem with James while sticking by his original point. (www.espn.com)