Famous dad LaVar Ball went on ESPN’s First Take on Thursday morning and went toe-to-toe with Stephen A. Smith and you know what ... he might have won.
I avoid First Take at all costs, but Stephen A vs. LaVar Ball was some of the most entertainingly terrible TV ever. pic.twitter.com/McwhRyhbr5
— Joon Lee (@iamjoonlee) March 23, 2017
LaVar is so adamant that he’d beat Michael Jordan 1-on-1 that it totally disarms Smith. This famous dad walked onto the set without any proof or evidence, said he’d beat the GOAT, and insinuated that MJ is only good in a 5-on-5 game and somehow still comes out on top.
This is like someone standing with a sandwich board on a street corner proclaiming the end of the world and winning a physics argument with Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Smith is a rank hot-take amateur used to pitching softballs of molten steel compared to Ball, who tosses takes the size of the sun like a medicine ball and all you do is get out of the way. Listen carefully as Smith can only offer a whimper as he begs “Would you stop it?” He knows this is no Skip Bayless, and he is at the altar of hot-take greatness.
Shoot, LaVar even renamed Los Angeles while he was there:
LaVar Ball on First Take: “You know what LA stands for? LaVar’s Awesome.” I am dead.
— Joon Lee (@iamjoonlee) March 23, 2017
Nobody has developed a better brand in the last three months that LaVar Ball. The man has gone from total obscurity to being a part of the sports lexicon just as quickly as the “Ice Bucket Challenge” or “planking” did. Let’s check the head-to-head on popularity:
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You know this means LaVar is getting his own studio show soon — and you know what, we’re all for it. There’s room in the sports landscape to take the hot-take show so far that it becomes absurdist theater. We all need it.