Australia needs to prepare itself as LaVar and LaMelo Ball head to our shores

Australia has welcomed controversial characters to its shores in the past, but this loudmouth basketball father may well top them all and he’s on his way.

LaVar Ball waves upon his arrival with his sons at Vilnius airport in Lithuania.

Australia, prepare yourself. A media storm is coming Down Under and it’s going to hit like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

As basketball fans across Australia celebrated the signing of teen phenom LaMelo Ball this week, it’s his father that will cause the biggest stir.

If you haven’t heard of the name LaVar Ball by now, in the coming months there’s no doubt you’ll know just who he is.

LaVar epitomises the old saying “any press is good press” as he spits whatever he wants with a microphone in front of his face.

But as we wait for LaMelo and LaVar to head Down Under, just who is the infamous loudmouth father?

THE EARLY BALL DAYS

If you listen to and believe what LaVar says, he is one of the greatest basketball players ever and also had a stellar football career in his younger days.

The truth is he never made it to the college level for basketball, while he did make it to the professional level for American Football, but only briefly.

He was born and raised in Los Angeles, but it wasn’t until his oldest son, Lonzo, started making waves in high school and college that LaVar popped out of the woodwork.

Lonzo showed off his incredible skills at UCLA before being selected with the second overall pick, behind Ben Simmons, in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Lonzo’s welcome at the Lakers has been worn out.

BIG BALLER BRAND

Most top prospects in the NBA Draft are courted by the monster shoe brands in Nike, Under Armour and Adidas, while in the last few years Puma and others have re-entered the fray.

But LaVar made sure those brands wouldn’t be getting their hands on his son when he tried to get them to sign the entire family in on a lucrative contract.

Of course the brands scoffed at the offer and the Ball family launched the Big Baller Brand and with it Lonzo’s first signature shoe.

BBB’s ZO2s made a splash, thanks in large part to their eye-watering price of $495 USD.

Their dream was to disrupt the incredibly rich market of sneakers, but problems began early on.

Fans who had decided to part with their hard earned were made to wait months and months before the shoes were even ready for distribution.

Starting from scratch meant the family had to find ways to get their name out into the public forum and that’s where LaVar excelled.

But things hit disastrous levels over the past 12 months when Lonzo cut ties with his family brand over a multi-million dollar scam involving co-founder Alan Foster.

‘THE KARDASHIANS OF THE NBA’

When you love the camera and saying anything you can to portray yourself in the best light, it makes sense you would have your own TV show.

A camera crew follows the Ball family around wherever they go with their show Ball in the Family appearing on the Facebook Network.

LaMelo Ball is heading to Australia to play with the Illawarra Hawks.

LaVar has made a habit of throwing out some of the wildest comments and hot-takes you’re likely to see, but it was Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr who summed it up best.

“People are eating out of his hands for no apparent reason, other than he’s become like the Kardashian of the NBA,” Kerr said.

He’s never once backed down from speaking his mind, even if it is nonsense, and his list of targets is ever-reaching.

Here are just some of the wildest and wackiest quotes the brash LaVar has ever delivered:

“I would kill Michael Jordan one-on-one”

“The best coach ever. That’s how I describe myself,” Lavar told ESPN.

“What Steve Nash going to teach my boy? He’s short and slow, man. Come on”

After talking for so long about how he wanted all three of his sons to be on the Los Angeles Lakers roster together and carry the franchise back to the top of the pile, his tune quickly changed after the Lakers sent Lonzo to New Orleans in a blockbuster trade as they pursued and landed Anthony Davis.

“The worst move the Lakers ever did in their life and they will never win another championship”.

LaVar Ball on the Lakers trading Lonzo Ball: ‘I guarantee... it will be the worst move the Lakers ever did in their life and they will never win another championship. Guarantee it.” pic.twitter.com/Q1pxopsEdP

— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) June 16, 2019

WORLDWIDE LEADER CUTTING TIES

One of the biggest ways LaVar made a name for himself within the basketball industry was due to ESPN throwing a camera and microphone in his face at every opportunity.

Those opportunities included continuous appearances on prime time shows to having a crew follow him and his two sons over to Lithuania during an ill-fated stint with BC Vytautas.

He was always entertaining and produced moments that left fans in stitches.

That spin tho. 😂 pic.twitter.com/6Mg3UWUEqS

— J.E. Skeets (@jeskeets) January 9, 2018

His lack of a filter and willingness to say absolutely anything eventually came back to bite him, with ESPN announcing he’ll no longer receive airtime on any of their platforms heading forward.

The severing of ties with the network came days after LaVar made an inappropriate remark to First Take host Molly Qerim.

Qerim attempted to switch the conversation to a new topic and said she was “switching gears” from LaMelo to Lonzo, to which LaVar responded “you can switch gears with me any day”.

ESPN released a statement condemning the “inappropriate” words and will no longer be giving him the platform to prop himself and his sons up.

LaMelo Ball with his dad LaVar.

“LaVar Ball’s comment to Molly Qerim Rose was completely inappropriate and we made him aware of that,” ESPN said in a statement.

Ball’s comment followed a track record of disrespecting female hosts. In 2017, he told Kristin Leahy to “stay in your lane” during a debate on FS1.

PREPARE YOUSELVES ACCORDINGLY

So with Australian shores awaiting the arrival of both LaMelo and LaVar, we can expect plenty of brazen comments from the father who has overshadowed his superstar sons.

Securing LaMelo may well be the biggest move the NBL has pulled off in recent years and the addition of LaVar will add some intrigue.

Whether that’s for good or bad isn’t yet known.

Originally published as Australia needs to prepare itself as LaVar and LaMelo Ball head to our shores