In tonight’s fourth game of the “Big Baller Brand Challenge” in Lithuania, a series of “friendly” games being staged against lesser competition to showcase the talents of LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball, their father LaVar will be in the house. But he won’t be watching and yelling from the stands. Instead, LaVar will be on the bench in the capacity of an assistant coach for Vytautas when they take on BC Dzukija.
“He will be an assistant coach on game protocol but will drive the team through the game and make many of the decisions,” a team spokesman told ESPN. “The style the team is going to play is going to be LaVar’s choice.”
Vytautas coach Virginijus Seskus told ESPN through a translator, “LaVar wants the team to play fast. He also has an idea for a new way for the team to play defense, so we’re going to try it out tonight. Today we’ll be like two equal coaches, but this will only be for the friendly match. We’ll see how it goes today.”
“Why not let him do it? It’s only a friendly match,” said Seskus. “It will end, and everyone will forget about it.”
LaMelo & LiAngelo Ball MAKING PROGRESS! 2nd League Game!! Gelo Gets His Grown Man On!!
In their second League (LKL) game, LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball looked much better and a lot more comfortable on the floor. Gelo finished with 20 points and Melo finished with 13. ——————————— Follow Us On Social!
In the three previous Big Baller Brand Challenge games thus far, Vytautas is 3-0. But in the games that count in the Lithuanian league, competing against grown men and true pros, they’re languishing in last place with a 4-16 record.
The Ball brothers do not resemble Big Ballers during their limited minutes in the Lithuanian League, but Gelo is averaging 23.3 points in the three Big Baller Brand Challenge games, while Melo is putting up 18.3 points and 7.3 assists in those contests.
Thus far, LaVar’s coaching resume consists of stalking the sidelines for his sons’ AAU team, and is most known for pulling the squad off the court due to not liking the officiating in one particular game.
Perhaps people are losing interest in the Ball’s Lithuanian adventure, and this is the latest marketing play to inject some attention. Perhaps it’s a desperation move by a team that is starving for any slice of a spotlight. Either way, sitting LaVar on the bench and giving him coaching duties can’t be a good look.
Or maybe it is. He ruined the Chino Hills program after fighting with their coach, eventually pulling Melo out of high school. He’s verbally sparred with the Lakers over Luke Walton and his staff’s handling of Lonzo. And when coaching his own AAU team, his most well-known act was teaching a group of teenagers that it’s okay to quit.
What happens next from here is anyone’s guess. The saga continues.
