LiAngelo , his second oldest son, has recently signed a record deal with Def Jam as a hip hop recording artist. He also played football at Long Beach City College for a season. He had a brief professional career as a tight end with the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football , where he had a total of 28 kickoff return yards, and no receptions.
He was a practice squad member of the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers in , but never played an official regular season game in the National Football League. Following a series of bold statements in the spring of , Ball began repeatedly making national sports headlines.
His early remarks included saying that his son Lonzo was better than Stephen Curry and claiming that he himself could defeat Michael Jordan one-on-one in basketball. He was subject to both praise and criticism as he continued making similar comments, some of which involved his company, Big Baller Brand. Ball has made several appearances on national TV and has routinely drawn attention from major sports media outlets. He has also been in the spotlight for his criticism of his sons' teams, most notably the Lakers for their treatment of Lonzo, as well as for his exchange with U.
Ball first began playing college basketball at West Los Angeles College in the low-tier Western State Conference despite having little experience at the prep level. In the season opener in , he recorded 33 points and 18 rebounds against Porterville College. Following college, Ball was invited to a football tryout and eventually made a return to the sport. During his NFL career, Ball was also a part of the practice squads of both the Jets and Carolina Panthers , remaining with the latter team until late November , albeit with no games played due to injury.
Although LaVar Ball initially received minimal public attention at the start of , his sons gave him a media platform that he would begin to use increasingly, starting at the end of the year. When asked who Lonzo plays like, he described his son as " Magic Johnson with a jumper.
