LaVar Ball is back in the coaching spotlight, leading his sons’ Lithuanian club, BC Vytautas, to a win in his first game as a professional head coach.
LaVar Ball was named head coach of Latvian club BC Vytautas for Sunday’s game against Jonavos Jonava. In his first game as a professional basketball head coach, Lavar came out on top, leading his team to a 151-120 win in the BBB Showcase finale.
His two sons, LaMelo and LiAngelo, were instrumental in BC Vytautas’ win. Both Ball brothers were locked in throughout the game putting on a shooting showcase. LaMelo recorded a triple-double with 40 points, 10 assists, and 11 rebounds, while LiAngelo scored 31 points. Both Ball brothers played almost the entire game and were the best players on the offensive end of the court. Defensively, the brothers failed to make stops, contest shots, and looked disinterested in putting a body on anyone.
Before LaVar Ball was named the head coach for Sunday’s game against Jonava, Ball served as assistant coach for BC Vytautas in their 147-142 win over BC Dzukija Alytus this past Tuesday.
In the team’s victory, LaVar’s sons LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball combined for 80 points. LiAngelo recorded a double-double with 37 points and 10 rebounds while LaMelo recorded 43 points and seven rebounds.
According to James Dator of SB Nation, “the style of play was ‘LaVar’s choice,’ which resulted in a bunch of offense, almost no defense and a game that, you guessed it, was designed to make LiAngelo and LaMelo shine.”
LaVar has coached LaMelo and LiAngelo throughout their basketball careers, most recently with the Big Ballers AAU basketball team last year.
But he’s had a history of incidents as head coach which caught many eyes from the media. In July of 2017, Ball took his whole Big Baller AAU team off the court after receiving a technical foul ref for constantly arguing. The technical was given to LaVar for inappropriate language towards officials.
The elder Ball’s dream of having his two sons join their brother, Lonzo, with the Los Angeles Lakers, remains just that, a dream. Even if they play at a high level in Lithuania, their NBA prospects remain grim.
