LaVar Ball Says Molly Qerim Comments Weren’t “Sexual In Nature”

Those at home who were watching ESPN’s First Take today collectively cringed when LaVar Ball made some interesting comments towards the show’s moderator, Molly Qerim. Qerim is the wife of former NBA player and current ESPN analyst Jalen Rose and has been with the First Take crew for years now. During a segment involving LaVar, Molly wanted to change the subject so she said she wanted to “switch gears.” This prompted LaVar to say “You can switch gears with me anytime” which had Qerim cringing at the camera.

Many believed LaVar’s comments were sexual in nature which elicited reactions from notable sports personalities, including Jemele Hill, who said “Kudos to Molly Querim for the professional way she handled LaVar Ball after his inappropriate comment. Maybe ESPN will have finally learned its lesson about putting him on TV.”

According to TMZ, Ball’s representative Denise White issued a statement regarding his First Take appearance and explained how the comments weren’t sexual at all.

“[LaVar] was asked if he wanted to switch gears, in his mind switching gears was ‘changing the subject anytime’ and he said, ‘yes, you can switch gears with me anytime.’ At NO time was that intended or meant to be sexual in nature,” White said.

Meanwhile, LaVar made the bold prediction that his son, LaMelo, would be the first overall pick in the 2020 draft.