Since the world met LaVar Ball last fall, the bombastic helicopter parent has been more or less a reality TV character. He’s a headline darling, famous for being famous, relevant less for who he is and more for whom he’s associated with. He checks all the boxes of Kardashian-brand notoriety.
Well beginning this week, LaVar won’t only be more or less a reality TV character, he will in fact be a reality TV character.
On Thursday, Facebook’s new “Watch” platform will debut Ball in the Family, a behind-the-scenes documentary series about LaVar, Lonzo and the rest of the Balls. Here’s how the show is described in a press release:
Ball in the Family is a documentary series chronicling the Ball family and the exciting new stage of the boys’ lives.
This episodic content will take fans behind-the-scenes as the boys prepare for their upcoming basketball seasons. It will also give fans a unique look at the Ball family behind closed doors, as LaVar and his sons rally around Tina as she recovers from the stroke she suffered earlier this year.
And here’s a trailer, if you want a sense of what we’re in for.
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There are some reasons to like LaVar Ball and there are plenty of reasons to dislike him, but you almost have to admire how effectively he has won himself exactly the platform he clearly craved. He turned some outlandish statements about Lonzo into appearances on sports talk shows, then blustered his way into national fame, which he turned into marketing opportunities for his sportswear company and now a reality TV show. In less than a year, he went from totally anonymous to one of the most talked-about dads in America.
It’s possible that no one will watch Ball in the Family, and it’s also possible that thousands will flock to a family that someone keeps capturing America’s attention. Either way, the very existence of this show feels like a victory for LaVar.
The first two episodes of Ball in the Family will be available Thursday on Facebook, and future episodes will go up on Sundays, beginning Sept. 10.
