LaVar Ball is one of the sports world's most omnipresent figures, for better or for worse. He's certainly created some tension between him and the Lakers' brain trust, so much so that the reinforcement of a rule that prevents the press from mingling with members of a player's family and friends is being more strictly reinforced. However, now that he's in Lithuania, he's out of the team's jurisdiction and, as a result, he's got a lot to say about the state of Lonzo's team.
LaVar, speaking to ESPN from the spa resort he's currently staying at, aired out Lakers coach Luke Walton for supposedly losing the locker room as of late. “You can see they’re not playing for Luke no more,” LaVar said. “Luke doesn’t have control of the team no more. They don’t want to play for him.” The win and loss totals for the team seem to indicate that the senior Ball might not be far off: the Lakers have, as of this writing, dropped nine straight games and 12 of their last 13.
“That’s a good team,” he continued. “Nobody wants to play for him. I can see it. No high fives when they come out of the game. People don’t know why they’re in the game. He’s too young. He’s too young. … He ain’t connecting with them anymore. You can look at every player, he’s not connecting with not one player.
Speaking about a recent loss the Lakers suffered at the hands of the Charlotte Hornets, LaVar said that Lonzo "looked good", but also that he looked "disgusted.” There certainly seems to be some pressure on NBA's most Hollywood franchise to turn the ship around and quickly.