We're Heading Down A Dark Path With LaVar Ball

LaVar Ball's decision-making with his kids may be leading him down a path that may be irreversible and may cost him his kids a chance to be stars in the NBA, or even at college, for that matter.

The latest news involving LaVar Ball is that he has decided to pull his middle son, LiAngelo Ball, out of UCLA. He told reporters on Monday, "We are exploring other options with Gelo...He's out of there."

This stems back to when Ball was one of the three players that was indefinitely suspended after a shoplifting incident in China, where UCLA was playing at the time. Ball has not even played a single game for the school after being suspended from the team. Teammates Cody Riley and Jalen Hill were the other two guys suspended, but their parents seem much smarter and much more aware of the consequences surrounding their kids than LaVar probably does.

UCLA coach Steve Alford was informed of the issue on Monday and wished nothing but the best for Ball, but you can tell that the UCLA officials were probably happy about the split. They were probably done with the whole Ball family drama.

LaVar Ball has called out UCLA multiple times about the suspension and the latest says that he believes the punishment being served to LiAngelo Ball is much harsher than the ones he got from China. Here's the thing, LaVar: China's punishment was WAY WORSE than what he's getting from UCLA. In China, you can't move around freely because you're in jail or on house arrest at a hotel. At UCLA, he got an indefinite suspension, which means he can still move around freely. USA is a democracy, China is not. We know what's a worse punishment.

There's one thing I understand about LaVar: He has not respect for the system and how investigations go and all that such. He believes his kids are the holy grail for basketball and everybody else, both NCAA and NBA, are just small breadcrumbs compared to him. But I tweeted at Sarah Spain, an ESPN writer, about this very issue: LaVar is a danger and he's becoming an increasing danger every single day, and what I've said a long time ago about the Ball kids is that they have to learn sooner or later to stand up to your dad, because this is not how parenting should work. I understand that I don't know anything about how parenting works, but my father was not like this. He was at times harsh, but he didn't go over the top with this stuff. He understood the consequences and what I needed to do to learn from the. LaVar Ball doesn't get it, and my guess is he never will until it's too late. UCLA had the right to do this, and I'm glad they made the smart choice, but this is another example about why LaVar Ball is an ever-increasing concern to the basketball community, because this is the type of behavior that we really shouldn't see from players' families.

If these kids don't stand up to their father and tell him that what he is doing is not helping their careers, I don't think they'll have careers in the NBA. LaVar is jeopardizing everything and making it harder for his kids to be successful in the NBA. I do believe these kids can have good futures if they have a father that takes his hands off the wheels in terms of their careers, but I know my voice is going to fall on deaf ears with LaVar. I don't care, though. Kids sometimes need to learn to be smarter than their parents, and this is one of those cases. If the Ball kids can't do that and understand the consequences their father is making for them, it's going to be harder for any of them to succeed in the NBA. It just is, and I don't want that to happen to any other good player that may be coming to the NBA.