OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - APRIL 21: Damian Lillard #0 talks with CJ McCollum #3 of the Portland Trail Blazers during a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder during Round One Game Three of the 2019 NBA Playoffs on April 21, 2019 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. The Trail Blazers defeated the Thunder 111-98. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
If you ask LaVar Ball a question, he’ll answer it and it will likely hit the blogs.
Such is the case here where Ball spoke with Kazeem Famuyide, host of the Say Less With Kaz Podcast.
During their conversation on the podcast, Ball discussed the Portland Trail Blazers. “Look at the Portland Trail Blazers,” LaVar Ball told Kaz.
“You got three hundred million tied in two guards. You ain’t never gonna win nothing.
“When you tie up all the money in two players it ain’t gonna happen like that.”
Ball’s not wrong mathematically. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum’s long-term contracts with the Blazers exceed $300 million.
For those keeping score at home: Lillard is guaranteed to earn $257,429,274 through 2025 and McCollum will make $156,911,111 through 2024.
LaVar Ball has been outspoken over the last couple of months. During our recent conversation, I asked him if his son and New Orleans Pelicans point guard, Lonzo Ball is comparable to Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach, Jason Kidd who is a Naismith Hall of Famer.
GettyLonzo Ball’s father, LaVar Ball
“Everybody would like to compare that to him,” Ball told me.
“I mean, Jason Kidd passes the ball, light-skinned, big guard…he has to get it from somebody, he’s more athletic than that. He shoots better than that. He’s hungrier than him. I’m trying to see where the comparison is. But you know to make a story, that’s what the media do – ‘Oh he’s like this guy, he’s like that guy’…No, like I said my boy is a new breed.
“Lonzo can play with anybody. Everybody saying that it’s his special gift. He makes everybody around him special. As long as you have confidence and you have the coach’s respect. Let Lonzo do what he does. And now that he’s super successful, everybody’s like, Oh! But the thing is he’s been doing that since the first day in training. All that he was doing over there with the Lakers. That wasn’t no training. He was hurt. Now he’s not hurt and he can perform like he always do. When you’re practicing and training the right way and you show confidence in your game and people let you do what you’re supposed to do, that’s all it’s about man. You’re going to be very successful.”
Meanwhile back at the ranch: The Portland Trail Blazers appeared in the NBA’s Western Conference Finals last season. Although they lost Lillard was incredible in the NBA Playoffs. Most notably, Lillard hit a 37-foot three-pointer with no time remaining to give the Blazers a 118-115 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
With that shot, Lillard and the Blazers advanced to the next round and defeated the Denver Nuggets. “I was running full speed like a deep three,” Lillard told me. It was solid defense on it and it was for 50 points. It gave me 50.”
Before the coronavirus pandemic halted play, the Blazers added Carmelo Anthony to their roster.
This season, Melo’s averaging 15.3 points and 6.3 assists per game in head coach, Terry Stotts’ Blazers system.
The Blazers will resume play next month at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.