Father LaVar Ball blames NBA conditioning and ‘raggedy shoes’ for Lonzo and LaMelo’s injuries

Life as professional basketball players hasn’t come easy for the Ball brothers, as they’ve spent must of their careers injured on the sidelines. Well, at least that’s been the case in recent years. For example, Lonzo hasn’t played an official game in over two years, and LaMelo recently got shut down by the Hornets for the remainder of the campaign. 

However, incredible as it may sound, none of their health issues have hampered their respective contracts in the league. The Charlotte star, for example, still has a chance to earn the five-year deal he inked last summer that could pay him as much as $260 million.

This is why their father LaVar has no regrets, and feels blessed with the careers that both his sons are having despite the hardships. “Well, mentally, they got a strong mindset,” he said. “They Balls. So they’re going to come back. They’re going to rehab. They’re going to do their thing.”

LaVar Ball pins blame on 'roody-poo workouts' and 'raggedy shoes' for sons' injuries https://t.co/mtN7Z6m8iy

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“As long as my boys are taking care of themselves and doing what they’re supposed to do, and get to do something that they love to do for as long as they can, it’s a beautiful thing,” he added. “A lot of people don’t get this opportunity, and I look at it with a different perspective, which is, A) even conditioning and even coming back, at least you get to do something that you love to do.”

LaVar can’t help but embrace his role as a father and protect his sons for as long as he can. “Oh, yes,” said the former college athlete. “Man, come on. Let me tell you this. As a parent, you give your kids — I think the bottom line is you just want them to take care of themselves after we go on. As long as they can do that, we feel good about raising them. So if you don’t give them education, you’ve got to give them a trade.

“I gave my boys a trade to take care of them for their life, which is playing basketball. Now, if they’re not going to be 6’6″, 6’7″, and long and athletic, you better put them in that school. So if you only get to be four feet — read and be able to type on a computer. That’s all you got to do. But you got to give them a trade or you give them some education. Pick one. I picked athletics. So look what happened.”

Today, LaVar He is the co-founder and CEO of the sports apparel company Big Baller Brand, as well as founder of the now defunct Junior Basketball Association or JBA.

The father of three basketball athletes explained how the Puma shoes worn by LaMelo are part to blame for his injuries

According to LaVar, he’s a bigger expert than most trainers around the NBA. When trying to make sense out of his son’s recurrent injuries, he put the blame on the conditioning in the league, as well as the shoes these athletes are wearing.

“They say, oh, LaVar, you worked the boys out too hard — that’s why they hurt,” he shared. “No, the reason they hurt is because they got away from me. And they start doing these roody-poo workouts. Because if you keep running them hills, you’re going to keep that power and that strength. But you start dealing with these rubber bands and doing this lightweight stuff, of course you’re going to start breaking down.”

About footwear and apparel, the father of the Ball brothers knows a thing or two. As he owns the Big Baller Brand, he felt entitled to criticise the Puma shoes worn by LaMelo.

“They’ve been trained hard enough? No, no, no,” LaVar kept at it. “Because you condition your body for running and jumping. You’ve got to condition your legs. So that’s why I always have my boys in them hills and running hard in them hills. That will make you run like a deer when you get on that court, so you won’t be getting hurt. A lot of things have to do with them raggedy shoes that Melo be wearing. Them shoes are not made the right way for him. That’s why he keeps tweaking his ankle every single time.”