With the start of the regular season still weeks away, LaVar Ball already appears to be in midseason form when it comes to his patented outrageous rhetoric.
Speaking to a TMZ Sports camera crew this week, the elder Ball predicted that son Lonzo and the New Orleans Pelicans will be celebrating an NBA title come next June.
“They’re gonna take it all this year, for sure,” LaVar said.
Most sportsbooks have the Pelicans sitting in the middle of the pack when it comes to championship odds, so there likely aren’t many who share LaVar’s optimism.
The Pelicans are an intriguing squad that is viewed as a team on the rise, however. The roster boasts a bevy of young talent, starting of course with top pick Zion Williamson, not to mention Lonzo, Brandon Ingram, Jaxson Hayes and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
LaVar, meanwhile, even threw his support behind Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry, which stands in stark contrast with his frequent public shaming of Lonzo’s former coach with the Lakers, Luke Walton.
“All you need to be successful in the NBA, ya gotta have a coach be behind you. And, Alvin Gentry is that guy,” LaVar said. “… What did Gentry say? He wants [the Pelicans] to play the fastest pace. That’s Lonzo’s best game!”
Despite the typical off-the-wall prediction out of the elder Ball, the fact that he’s speaking so positively about his son’s squad is an intriguing development given how he and Lonzo have been feuding of late.
The drama started when LaVar called Lonzo “damaged goods” amid a dispute over the Big Baller Brand. Lonzo later said he and his father haven’t been talking all that much since the blowup, so LaVar’s latest comments have to be viewed as somewhat encouraging for the Ball family.
All that said, it’s safe to assume LaVar Ball is on his own with his Pelicans are “gonna take it all this year” chatter. Given his history, though, odds are it won’t be the last time this season that we hear something wild from the routinely outspoken Ball.
More must-reads: