LaVar Ball banned it all, along with DJ Flood, against then-Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan for not getting the most out of his son, LaMelo Ball, during his rookie season. LaVar questioned how the six-time NBA champion would handle LaMelo after selecting him with the third overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.
In the interview, LaVar admitted that Jordan’s methods were outdated and that he did not bring a winning culture to the Hornets:
“When was the last time he won a championship? What would he tell him? The game has changed, what would he tell him?” LaVar Ball said in Hoopsview.
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“If he’s like, ‘Yo, this is how you’re going to get better,’ then the Charlotte Hornets have been around a long time before my son got here. Tell some of them so you can Can win. Don can’t wait to tell my kids and tell other people the news.”
To this day, LaVar still insists on his idea, and even added fuel to the fire by saying that his son plays a different position than Michael Jordan. He even blasted the former Hornets owner for benching LaMelo for 20 games.
“What advice would he give my son? (He’s) not a point guard? If you were to give some advice before he was drafted, right, if you really had some advice to give him, how would you give advice to your coach? , and then he doesn’t have to sit out the first 20 games.
“Who drafts the three spot and you don’t start them? Tell me how it works? Give them advice,” Ball said to DJ Flood.
In his first year with the Charlotte Hornets, LaMelo Ball averaged 15.7 points, 6.1 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, beating out the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards for the 2021 NBA Rookie of the Year Award.
Michael Jordan impressed by LaMelo Ball
Despite LaVar Ball’s feelings about Michael Jordan, the five-time NBA MVP had this to say about LaMelo just a few months after playing for the Charlotte Hornets:
“I think Melo has adapted to the NBA game better than any of us thought early in his career. “He has exceeded our expectations so far this season,” Jordan said in an email to The Associated Press said.
After selling the Charlotte Hornets, LaMelo Ball received a $260 million five-year contract extension. It was one of Michael Jordan’s final moves before leaving the team.