Nick Wright Walks Back Original Take on LaMelo Ball Being a 'Clown'

LaMelo Ball (Image Credits: Imagn)

Nick Wright Walks Back Original Take on LaMelo Ball Being a 'Clown'

Originally posted on Total Pro Sports | By Kenny Nosay | Last updated Apr 17, 2026 12:58 AM ET

LaMelo Ball is in hot water these days after grabbing the foot of Bam Adebayo, resulting in the latter missing the rest of Miami’s game against the Charlotte Hornets.

Nick Wright, a renowned basketball analyst, has chimed in on the issue. He had some harsh words directed at LaMelo, which inevitably reached the radar of LaVar, the Ball family’s patriarch. After hearing what LaVar had to say about him, Wright, surprisingly, stood down a bit on his take on what the Charlotte Hornets star did to Bam. However, he still questioned some aspects of the 24-year-old’s immaturity instead.

“If you feel more comfortable and would be less bothered if you replaced every time I said clown with ‘wildly immature man-child,’ fine. I didn’t think this was going to be a controversial opinion. I thought there was a universal understanding that LaMelo is this wildly talented… but is undercut with what can most easily be called shocking and historic on-court immaturity…. Just such a lack of basketball immaturity,” Wright said.

Nick Wright stands down on his take about LaMelo Ball being a clown

“If you feel more comfortable and would be less bothered if you replaced everytime I said clown with ‘wildly immature man child’ fine. I didn’t think this was going to be a controversial opinion. I thought… pic.twitter.com/33xXUQ2CSj
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) April 16, 2026

“LaMelo has not done a good job of keeping his immaturity only to the basketball court… We’ve all seen the compilation in -0 different monster trucks or transformer cars, ripping out of the Hornets stadium, blowing through the red lights,” he added.

Wright walked down a bit but fired another round of ammo aimed at LaMelo. With the Hornets playing another game to save their season, expect LaVar to make a rebuttal soon.

What Did LaMelo Ball’s Dad, LaVar, Say To Nick Wright?

There’s no denying that absurd takes are what made LaVar Ball somewhat of a celebrity in the basketball world. He’s not particularly shy when it comes to bold takes, just like when he said he could beat Michael Jordan in a one-on-one game. But on the issue regarding LaMelo Ball’s antics, what did LaVar Ball say to Nick Wright? He truly did not mince his words.

LaVar Ball (Image Credits: Imagn)

“Has Nick Wright ever looked at a mirror? I bet you if you look at a dictionary right now, you look up a clown, you’re gonna see two things: one, it’s going to be somebody with some long hair on the sides and a big a** nose. Yep. That’s Nick Wright. He’s been a clown ever since I knew him,” LaVar Ball said in his Big Baller Podcast.

This is becoming a back-and-forth between two media personalities who took LaMelo’s trip on Bam a bit too seriously. Expect more shots to be fired soon.

This article first appeared on Total Pro Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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