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LaMelo Ball Heads Down Under To Play In The NBL

No great surprise but he was running out of choices

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Vytautas Prienai v Zalgiris Kauno
PRIENAI, LITHUANIA - JANUARY 09: LaMelo Ball of Vytautas Prienai prior to the match between Vytautas Prienai and Zalgiris Kauno on January 9, 2018 in Prienai, Lithuania.
Photo by Alius Koroliovas/Getty Images

So far the Ball brothers haven’t worked out all that well. Lonzo had a spectacular time at UCLA but hasn’t sold everyone in the NBA and was traded from the Lakers to the Pelicans this past weekend, much to his father’s displeasure.

Middle brother LiAngelo followed Lonzo to UCLA where he went to China and was caught shoplifting. He was lucky not to be in a Chinese prison for several years. He was never as talented as his brothers and wasn't likely to have a pro career (and still isn’t).

The youngest brother, LaMelo, along with LiAngelo, was briefly shipped off to play ball in Lithuania before returning to the states playing for SPIRE Institute and his father’s Big Baller League which never accomplished much.

Now he’s off to Australia, where he’ll play in the NBL for at least a year. He thinks he’s going to be the #1 pick in the 2020 draft, but that seems like a stretch at best.

The reality is that his father has helped to destroy whatever hopes LiAngelo had and has made a college career all but impossible for bot LiAngelo and LaMelo. He’s also helped cost Lonzo a lot of money when a friend and business partner in BBB apparently helped himself to a lot of the money Lonzo put into BBB.

As far as we know, LaMelo is the third high school guy to go overseas to play professionally this year (joining Kenyon Martin, Jr. and RJ Hampton) but he may be the smartest. All three of those guys need to get away from their lunatic father and rebuild their own reputations. He’s made their lives far more difficult than they need to be.

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