LaVar Ball was back at it on Tuesday morning, appearing on CNN to discuss his recent decision to pull his second-oldest son, LiAngelo Ball, out of UCLA before ever playing a single game.
On Monday, LaVar Ball confirmed that he had pulled his son out of UCLA and that he would not be transferring. Instead. LiAngelo Ball will now use this time to prepare for the NBA Draft.
LaVar Ball appeared on CNN with Chris Cuomo, two weeks after the pair's previous interview went off the rails. Ball explained that he pulled his son off the team because the punishment had already gone on long enough and it wasn't clear when his son would be able to play again.
"We've got the NCAA holding back, where they're waiting two, three months to tell him if he can play or not," Ball said. "That's one of the main reasons he went to UCLA, to play basketball. That's his passion. And for them to prolong this and go on and on, it's ridiculous to me."
The move to pull LiAngelo Ball out of UCLA came four weeks after he and two of his UCLA teammates were arrested in China and charged with shoplifting. The three players were subsequently suspended indefinitely by the team after returning to the United States.
It was unclear how long the suspensions were to last, but LaVar Ball's statement suggests the team was not going to allow them to play until the NCAA ruled on their eligibility. If the players returned sooner, and the NCAA later decided they were ineligible, UCLA could be forced to forfeit games the players appeared in.
Ball went on to explain that he felt the players were being excessively punished for something China had already "forgiven."
"What happened to them, it's been a long enough punishment. Over there in China, they dropped the charges. OK, I think the boys have learned their lesson. Yes, they learned their lesson ... and now it's a harsher treatment over here ... China already forgave the boys, and they returned it, why else are we still manhandling them as far as keeping them from playing sports, taking their meal passes, taking their stuff where they can't practice in the facility? ... They've already been forgiven over there, so what's the big deal?"
You can see part of Ball's comments here:
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