Lonzo, LiAngelo, LaVar and the ‘Ball Family Circus’ Proposition Betting Odds
–LaVar Ball is the father of LA Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball, former UCLA player LiAngelo Ball and high school blue chip prospect LaMello Ball.
–The legacy sports media despises the elder Ball due to his outspoken and bombastic personality.
–LiAngelo Ball recently left UCLA to prepare for the Spring 2018 NBA Draft
Anyone who follows sports–and particularly basketball–already knows the deal with LaVar Ball and his progeny. I could be lazy and just leave it at that but my job as a writer/oddsmaker is to ‘set the scene’ before dropping my odds. That means I have a professional responsibility to provide sufficient background that even a reader completely unfamiliar with what I like to call the ‘Ball Family Circus’ will understand what we’re talking about. That’s somewhat tricky because family patricarch LaVar Ball is unlike anything ever seen in sports and has (wrongfully in my opinion) earned the near universal contempt of the ‘traditional’ sports media.
We’ll start with the easy part–LaVar’s three basketball playing kids:
LONZO BALL: Rookie point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers. Chosen with the #2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft following one season at UCLA. Brutally talented (led NCAA in assists at UCLA) but struggling to assimilate to the NBA game. Has shown flashes of brilliance–such as becoming the youngest NBA player in history to have a ‘triple double’ at 20 years and 15 days old. Upside potential? Somewhere between Magic Johnson and Clyde Drexler–he can shoot, dish and rebound.
LIANGELO BALL: The ‘Jan Brady‘ of the Ball boys. By most suggestions, he’s not as talented as his older or younger brother. Until recently, was on the UCLA team but wasn’t a major contributor. Arrested on a trip to China for shoplifting with two other players which led to his suspension, a Twitter feud between LaVar Ball and President Donald Trump and eventually his withdrawal from UCLA. He’s targeting the 2018 NBA draft but he’s not getting much interest. Unlike LaMelo and Lonzo–both physically imposing and talented guards–LiAngelo is more of an undersized power forward who needs to be in the right situation to succeed.
LAMELO BALL: He’s 16 has his own signature shoe and 2.4 million Instagram followers. He’s also ranked a 5 star recruiting prospect by several sources. Left high school to be home schooled. Recently signed with an agent so he won’t be going to college and will target the NBA. Before that he was ‘verbally committed’ to UCLA.
THE LAVAR BALL SAGA
LAVAR BALL: Father of Lamelo, Lonzo and Liangelo. He was a decent athlete in college to the point that he ended up on NFL practice squads. The traditional sports world hates him not because he’s a bad dad (he’s by most accounts a very good dad) but because he’s challenging the orthodoxy of sports–and particularly college sports. Bombastic, outspoken, media savvy. Sometimes he reminds me of Don King without the sleaze factor. Alternately wearing hats as a parent, basketball coach, businessman and as he’s often described a ‘media personality’. Like him or not, has done a great job promoting his kids–name one other 16 year old basketball player? Once you realize that you can’t you’ll understand that LaVar is pretty good at what he does.
One reason the media and the traditional sports power hierarchy doesn’t like LaVar is that he doesn’t genuflect to them. He exposes them and circumvents them at every opportunity. Instead of signing a deal with Nike or Adidas out of college Lonzo became part of the Ball Family’s ‘Big Baller’ shoe brand. The longterm success of that brand remains to be seen but it’s now a household name. The latest move–pulling Liangelo out of UCLA and renouncing Lamelo’s college eligibility is considered most incendiary by sports ‘traditionalists’. Even though most top level NBA prospects are ‘one and done’ now they at least give deference to the NCAA’s college sports cartel, help enrich the NCAA and schools with their uncompensated play and provide enough justification to perpetuate the all but dispelled myth of the ‘scholar athlete’. They give the Soprano-family like NCAA their ‘tribute’ and then are allowed to earn on their own.
IS LAVAR BALL AND THE ‘BALL BLUEPRINT’ THE FUTURE?
On a symbolic level, LaVar is to the orthodoxy of sports what Bitcoin is to analog era finance. He’s doing it all without the permission of the ‘gatekeepers’ like shoe companies and the NCAA. In the process, he’s doing his part to undermine these institutions of centralized power and destroying the myth that there’s only one way to succeed as a professional athlete. I’m not sure that he’s going to add ‘change agent’ to his bio but that’s what he is.
This is a quick description of a complex guy and the fascinating dynamic between him, his basketball playing sons, the sports media and just about everyone else. I’ve done a 180 on LaVar. I used to think he was just another blowhard jock trying to gravy train off his kids. Now I think he’s a brilliant marketer and self promoter who is focused more on what’s best for his kids’ careers than doing what he’s “supposed” to do. I’m of the opinion that you’re going to see more aspiring professional athletes follow the ‘Ball blueprint’ as the excessive and pervasive influence of the college sports ‘cartel’ continues to errode.
BALL FAMILY BASKETBALL PROPOSITION BETTING ODDS
LIANGELO BALL PROPOSITION BETTING ODDS
WILL LIANGELO BALL BE SELECTED IN THE SPRING 2018 NBA DRAFT?
Yes: +750
No: -1000
WILL LIANGELO BALL BE SELECTED IN THE FIRST ROUND OF THE SPRING 2018 NBA DRAFT?
Yes: +7500
No: -15000
WILL LIANGELO BALL BE SELECTED IN THE SECOND ROUND OF THE SPRING 2018 NBA DRAFT?
Yes: +750
No: -1000
LIANGELO BALL’S NEXT ORGANIZED BASKETBALL WILL COME IN WHAT LEAGUE?
Any overseas league: -175
NBA Summer League: +150
NBA G League: +500
NBA: +2500
Harlem Globetrotters: +5000
If Liangelo Ball does not play organized basketball by 12/31/17 all bets will be ‘no action’
WILL LIANGELO BALL PLAY FOR THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS SUMMER LEAGUE TEAM IN SUMMER 2018?
Yes: +180
No: -210
LONZO BALL PROPOSITION BETTING ODDS
TO WIN 2017-2018 NBA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD?
Lonzo Ball: +2500
Any Other Player: -5000
LONZO BALL TO BE NAMED ‘NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE ROOKIE OF THE MONTH’ DURING 2017-2018 REGULAR SEASON?
Yes: -150
No: +130
LONZO BALL AVERAGE POINTS PER GAME 2017-2018 REGULAR SEASON?
Over 9.5 PPG: +130
Under 9.5 PPG: -150
LONZO BALL AVERAGE ASSISTS PER GAME 2017-2018 REGULAR SEASON?
Over 8.5 APG: +110
Under 8.5 APG: -130
LONZO BALL AVERAGE REBOUNDS PER GAME 2017-2018 REGULAR SEASON?
Over 7.5 RPG: +110
Under 7.5 RPG: -130
LONZO BALL SHOOTING PERCENTAGE 2017-2018 REGULAR SEASON?
Over 34.5%: -120
Under 34.5%: +100
LONZO BALL 3 POINT SHOOTING PERCENTAGE 2017-2018 REGULAR SEASON?
Over 25.5%: -120
Under 25.5%: +100
LONZO BALL FREE THROW SHOOTING PERCENTAGE 2017-2018 REGULAR SEASON?
Over 49.5%: +130
Under 49.5%: -150
LONZO BALL ‘DOUBLE DOUBLES’ 2017-2018 REGULAR SEASON?
Over 14.5: -120
Under 14.5: +100
LONZO BALL ‘TRIPLE DOUBLES’ 2017-2018 REGULAR SEASON?
Over 5.5: +110
Under 5.5: -130
LONZO BALL ‘TRIPLE DOUBLES’ 2017-2018 REGULAR SEASON?
Over 4.5: -150
Under 4.5: +130
LONZO BALL ‘TRIPLE DOUBLES’ 2017-2018 REGULAR SEASON?
Over 3.5: -210
Under 3.5: +180
LONZO BALL ‘TRIPLE DOUBLES’ 2017-2018 REGULAR SEASON?
Over 2.5: -750
Under 2.5: +600
LONZO BALL TECHNICAL FOULS 2017-2018 REGULAR SEASON?
Over 2.5: +110
Under 2.5: -130
LOS ANGELES LAKERS 2017-2018 REGULAR SEASON WINS?
Over 32.5: -130
Under 32.5 +110
LOS ANGELES LAKERS 2017-2018 REGULAR SEASON LOSSES?
Over 49.5: -130
Under 49.5 +110
LOS ANGELES LAKERS 2017-2018 WINNING PERCENTAGE?
Over 44.5%: +150
Under 44.5% -170
LONZO BALL TWITTER FOLLOWERS AT 12:01 AM EASTERN ON MAY 1, 2018?
Over 575,000: +130
Under 575,000: -150
LAVAR BALL PROPOSITION BETTING ODDS
LAVAR BALL TWITTER FOLLOWERS AT 12:01 AM ON MAY 1, 2018?
Over 250,000: -120
Under 250,000: +100
LAVAR BALL INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS AT 12:01 AM ON MAY 1, 2018?
Over 1 million: -110
Under 1 million: -110