LaVar Ball Claims Magic Johnson Promised LiAngelo A Spot On The Lakers

Thanks to some very public drama involving Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka, the Los Angeles Lakers have looked like a complete mess as of late. Johnson publically called Pelinka a backstabber and there are rumors floating around that LeBron James might jump ship should the team have a failure of an offseason. Today, LaVar Ball, who is suddenly the sanest person within the Lakers, took to FS1’s Undisputed where he spoke about all of the dysfunction within the organization.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the interview was when Ball revealed that both Johnson and Pelinka promised to draft LiAngelo in order to give him a chance to play with his brother Lonzo. Of course, this never actually came to fruition.

“One of the things they told me is, ‘We keep family together,'” Ball explained. “Now if you want Lonzo to lead this team, why don’t you get a piece that works well with him which is his brother? You gotta get ‘Gelo first. You at least got to give him a chance to play with Lonzo. You should have at least got him in Summer League. I thought they were going to take him with the last pick.”

As far as the LeBron rumors are concerned, LaVar is calling BS, saying the Lakers are good enough right now to go out and win a title. Surely he’s only saying that because Lonzo is on the team but such is life when you’re the Ball family patriarch.

“LeBron ain’t going nowhere. LeBron is looking at the big picture,” Ball said. “He’s got enough talent on the team to make them win. Without a free agent.” 

[Via]