It’s been a while since we’ve heard much of anything from LaVar Ball.
But right on time, ahead of LaMelo’s big prime time game Wednesday night against Golden State (the Warriors won 114-92), LaVar went on 95.7 The Game in San Francisco and said he knew the Warriors wouldn’t draft Melo in 2020.
“I knew that Melo wasn’t going to go to Golden State on the fact that Steve Kerr was the coach. He called me something, a Kardashian of coaching or something. I don’t know what he called me. But I got mad and called him the Milli Vanilli of coaching. So that was not going to work, because how are you going to play for a guy that is kind of mad at your dad… That’s not going to work because now you have to think about your coach and your father.”
In the days leading up to the 2020 NBA draft, rumors were floating around that the Warriors could draft Ball No. 2 overall, if available. Instead, the Warriors selected James Wiseman, and Ball fell to No. 3 for Michael Jordan and the Hornets to swoop up. The wow factor alone of a backcourt featuring LaMelo and Stephen Curry is enough to make Warriors’ fans’ heads explode. And LaMelo’s personality would have fit the Bay area like a glove.
But LaVar is probably right about this one. That would have been a challenging situation to navigate, based on what Kerr and papa Ball had previously said about one another publicly. There would have been the need for a conversation before drafting LaMelo between LaVar and coach Kerr.
The Warriors would have certainly been stacked in the backcourt with Melo, Steph, and Jordan Poole, who’s developing into an exceptional young player in his own right. And that’s before Klay Thompson returns from injury. Even with all that talent, there would still have been some tension between LaVar and Kerr. We witnessed how Warriors management handled the Kevin Durant-Draymond Green meltdown by not doing much of anything. Nothing that helped defuse the situation, anyway. And then they made Durant feel less appreciated by the franchise in public, all of which led to KD’s escape to Brooklyn.
So, it’s safe to say the Warriors likely would have bungled this Lavar-Kerr situation the same way they did in handling Durant. You can’t allow yourself to get drunk on your own success, and that seems like what happened with Golden State toward the end of its five-year run of dominance.
LaMelo playing with this Warriors team could have been Northern California’s version of showtime for the next decade. Now that sounds like must-see TV. Dare to dream.
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
