LaVar Ball loves to speak to the media and make headlines, but he will no longer be doing so if two specific ESPN reporters are on the byline.
In an interview with ESPN Los Angeles on Monday morning, the Big Baller Brand patriarch ripped Jeff Goodman, saying he sent him home early from Lithuania after Goodman published a story with unfavorable comments from Ball directed at Lakers head coach Luke Walton.
Ball also said that Ramona Shelburne no longer had access to his family.
In the interview with Keyshawn Johnson, Jorge Sedano, and LZ Granderson, Ball said, “I sent Jeff Goodman home early.Otherwise he would have still been out here. But how are you going to be out here if I won’t interview with you no more? You got to come home.”
After being asked about what many believed was a close relationship between him and Goodman, Ball expanded on his comments.
“He ain’t my guy no more,” Ball said, via The Big Lead. “I’ll never ever EVER do an interview with that guy again. He’s sheisty, and I see that. He wanted to go that route. I told him, ‘You can do what you want, say what you want, you just gotta suffer the consequences whether they be good or bad.’ He did the story he wanted to write, tried to finagle things. Guess what? He’s out of the picture now. He can’t come close to my family.
“If he thinks that story was worth a bunch of clicks, and him going to the moon? Hey, that’s fine. You also got to understand that affects me in a bad way, when I’m feeling bad, which it ain’t gonna bother me at all. Either I deal with you or I don’t. So now I never deal with him. Just like Ramona Shelburne. She’s off my list too. I don’t mess with them rudy poots no more. It’s okay. They still gotta do some stories. But ain’t nobody want to hear those stories that they’re doing on the outside unless you got my name in it.”
LaVar was clearly unhappy with the way the Walton story turned out and the backlash it received from many in basketball circles. But don’t expect Goodman to lose out on many major scoops.
As for LaVar sending Goodman home early, ESPN said in a statement that it was the network’s decision and he returned home as scheduled after covering the pro debut of LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball in Lithuania.
