It’s a one-on-one showdown between bombastic LaVar Ball and the ostentatious President Trump.
President Trump can add a new high-profile enemy to his short list: LaVar Ball. The President and Ball have come to blows following a CNN interview in which Ball refused to thank the President for allegedly getting his son, LiAngelo, out of jail. Ball argues that Trump did nothing worthy of thanks. However, the President claims that LiAngelo was released from China only because of his intervention. Trump responded on Twitter by blasting LaVar as an ungrateful fool.
It wasn’t the White House, it wasn’t the State Department, it wasn’t father LaVar’s so-called people on the ground in China that got his son out of a long term prison sentence – IT WAS ME. Too bad! LaVar is just a poor man’s version of Don King, but without the hair. Just think..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2017
LiAngelo Ball had been arrested in China, along with two teammates from the UCLA Bruins basketball team, for allegedly stealing a pair of expensive luxury glasses and other goods. Owing to the value of the goods stolen, the three young men were facing potentially long jail sentences if the case went to court and full charges were pressed.
Instead, after several days of media frenzy and uncertainty, they were promptly released. Reportedly, President Trump personally asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to release the trio. The request came during Trump’s Asia tour and while he was meeting with President Xi to discuss other matters. LaVar, however, is having none of it.
“Did he help the boys get out? I don’t know. I don’t know. If I was going to thank somebody, I’d probably thank President Xi. I’d thank him. He’s in China.” – LaVar Ball
According to President Trump, it was his personal intervention that secured their quick release. Many media sources had been reporting that the trio would likely be stuck in China for a month at the least. Initially, the Chinese government appeared to be in no rush to resolve the matter.
During a CNN interview LaVar Ball went out of his way not to thank the President, stating:
”I’m not saying nothing to the president. I’m just saying, I’m not just saying thank you to anybody for nothing.”
Some legal experts have challenged Trump’s role in the release of the UCLA players. Speaking to the New York Times on Trump’s claims, Fu Hualing, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said “it’s nonsense. I would be surprised if they were even prosecuted.” Apparently, many foreigners caught committing minor crimes are deported rather than jailed.
LaVar Ball is most famous as a media personality. LaVar rose to fame after claiming his son, then a UCLA point guard, was better than Stephen Curry and other all-star caliber NBA players. This drew a tremendous amount of media publicity. The Ball family now stars in its own reality TV show “Ball in the Family”.
LaVar spent a few years on NFL practice squads and played for the London Monarchs for one season.
