Maybe you’ve met LaVar Ball. If not, now’s as good of a time as any. Here he is!
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He’s the dad and basketball coach of his three sons: Lonzo, LiAngelo, and LaMelo. Lonzo’s at UCLA now, preparing for an NCAA tournament run and projected as a top-two pick in this summer’s NBA draft. LiAngelo and LaMelo (who scored 92 points recently) are also committed to UCLA as soon as they graduate high school, and we’ll probably also see them in the NBA. So this won’t be the last we’re hearing of him, no chance, not at all.
LaVar Ball is a good Sports Dad, but boy does he have takes. Like when he said Lonzo, who is very good but is also still in college, is better than Stephen Curry.
Or when he said that he’ll only play for the Lakers. And when he said he wants a $1 billion shoe deal for licensing rights to his sons. And how he is selling $60 t-shirts. And, well ... yesterday, he said he thinks he could have beat Michael Jordan one-on-one in “his heyday.”
In 1988, LaVar Ball averaged 2.2 points at Washington State. That’s the year Jordan averaged 35 points per game. But Ball really thinks he could have.
Now you probably understand why he became a meme.
#LaVarBallSays he would have beaten Usain Bolt if they ever raced in his prime.
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) March 13, 2017
It looks like we can track it back to CBS Sports’ Will Brinson, who tweeted out the first usage of “#LaVarBallSays” at 7:07 p.m. ET on March 13, 2017. From there, it took off naturally.
NBA players were even checking in:
#LavarBallSays Bucks in 6
— Brandon Jennings (@brandonjennings) March 15, 2017
Beautiful. There were more.
#LaVarBallSays if he had 5 daughters they could beat the #UConn Women.
— Mr. Dobolina (@ducci07) March 13, 2017
#LaVarBallSays he was faster than Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl.
— Mike Sciandra (@MikeSciandra) March 13, 2017
#LaVarBallSays his sons could throw a football over that there mountain
— Will Black (@YoSoyBill) March 13, 2017
#LaVarBallSays he woulda knocked out Ali in the first round pic.twitter.com/W4iXaLv6tJ
— Tyler R. Tynes (@TylerRickyTynes) March 14, 2017
The meme format was originally “#LaVarBallSays + impossible physical athletic feat,” but it quickly moved beyond that.
#lavarballsays he can fix Nintendo cartridges without blowing on them
— Nathan Wood (@itsnatewood) March 14, 2017
#LaVarBallSays he can make Kawhi Leonard smile
— Brittany Cheng (@ChengBrittany) March 14, 2017
#LaVarBallSays he has picked a perfect bracket 3 years in a row
— Sideline Fantasy (@playsideline) March 13, 2017
#LaVarBallSays he actually made the first moon landing
— sam esfandiari (@samesfandiari) March 14, 2017
#LaVarBallSays he can coach the wolf to beat Arian Foster
— SB Nation (@SBNation) March 14, 2017
#LaVarBallSays he eats Chick-fil-A on Sundays
— Brennan Thacker (@KendyllDad13) March 14, 2017
Stay tuned for what LaVar Ball might say next.