The LaVar Ball experience might be reaching a breaking point.
In an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Ball made multiple cracks about FS1 host Jason Whitlock’s weight and sparred with Kristine Leahy about whether he was disrespectful toward women.
The trouble started when Leahy questioned Ball, the father of NBA Draft prospect Lonzo Ball, on how many sneakers his Big Baller Brand had sold. Ball told Leahy to “stay in your lane,” called her a hater, mimicked her voice and refused to make eye contact with her.
Lavar Ball goes in on reporter part 1 pic.twitter.com/fA1SC7gN1O
— Frankie Vision (@Frankie_Vision) May 17, 2017
Ball did not take nicely to Leahy’s suggestion that Big Baller Brand should market toward women, in addition to men.
Lavar Ball goes in on Reporter part 2 pic.twitter.com/ZnfQqWww8b
— Frankie Vision (@Frankie_Vision) May 17, 2017
The conversation soon shifted to Whitlock, who has been critical of LaVar throughout his months-long publicity tour. LaVar proclaimed that, “Going back to Whitlock, I don’t think he can comment on anything but snacks.”
Cowherd, who hosts Speak for Yourself alongside Whitlock, called the jab “harsh,” while Kristine Leahy questioned Ball for disrespecting people for their weight and again brought up his attitude toward women.
LaVar later said of Whitlock, “Don’t come at me and don’t think I’m gonna come at you.” He said Whitlock “don’t like trainers. If he come in my house I’ma work him out.”
Whitlock, for what it’s worth, responded light-heartedly on Twitter, with the hashtag #ILikeSnacks.
https://twitter.com/WhitlockJason/status/864894074649587712
You can listen to the whole interview right here. The fireworks start around the six-minute mark.
Making fun of people’s weight, snapping at a woman for telling him to market toward both genders? It looks like LaVar Ball has stepped over the line from innocently annoying (or amusing) to offensive. It’s probably time for him to step away from the microphone for a little while.
As for FS1 and all the other networks giving LaVar airtime, maybe it’s time to stop.
About Alex Putterman
Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.