LaVar Ball’s middle son, LiAngelo, withdrew from UCLA earlier this week, about a month after he and two teammates caused an international stir by getting arrested on shoplifting charges during a team trip to China. In September, Ball pulled his youngest son, LaMelo, from Chino Hills High School in California, announcing he would be home-schooled before eventually enrolling at UCLA like brothers LiAngelo and Lonzo, the eldest Ball son who now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers.
But LiAngelo won’t be returning to college basketball, and LaMelo apparently won’t ever get there. On Thursday, LaVar Ball told ESPN’s Jeff Goodman that both of his younger sons have signed with agent Harrison Gaines in the hope that a foreign professional team signs them as a package deal.
“I don’t care about the money,” LaVar Ball told Goodman. “I want them to go somewhere where they will play them together on the court at the same time. The priority is for the boys to play on the same team.”
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According to Goodman, several teams in Europe and Asia (presumably not in China) have expressed interest in signing the Ball brothers.
“I don’t know the deals and who is offering what,” LaVar said. “I’m letting Harrison handle all that, but I know there are a few teams interested. I just need to get them playing again.”
UCLA suspended LiAngelo Ball indefinitely after the shoplifting arrest, even though the charges were dropped. According to Goodman, LaVar Ball was frustrated that the school had not yet determined the length of his son’s suspension. He also suggested that UCLA shared some of the responsibility for the shoplifting incident, considering it let the players have some free time while in China.
“These coaches is making a grip of money,” he told CNN on Tuesday. “We got to be mindful now that they could be under this, too, on the fact that they have to hold a little accountability.”
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LiAngelo Ball, a shooting guard, will meet the NBA’s draft requirements in June: He’ll be 19 years old and a year removed from his high school graduation. (His name does not appear on any of the major mock NBA drafts, however.) LaMelo Ball, a point guard, turned 16 in August and — barring a change in NBA policy — cannot be drafted for a few years.
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