Written by Dan Steinberg at Washington Post.com
“Never question LaVar Ball again,” a forlorn Steve Buckhantz said well after 1 a.m. on Thursday morning, as Ball rejoiced over a Lakers victory. That wasn’t how this night was supposed to end.
Basketball’s baldest provocateur somehow turned an October game between the Washington Wizards and the Lakers into an actual Event by warning the Wizards to beware their trip to L.A., since his son wouldn’t dream of losing twice in a week. Then came Marcin Gortat’s social-media prediction that John Wall would torture young Lonzo, and Wall’s promise to show “no mercy,” and Paul Pierce’s repeated claims that Wall was the best point guard in the game, and Wizards fans swooning over Wall’s $1,100 pregame Angry Cat Gucci sweater, and a general anticipation of calculated annihilation delivered by a veteran at the height of his powers upon an overmatched rookie whose father wouldn’t stop writing verbal checks for made-up amounts.
It didn’t start that way, but even well into the (very very) late night, you could still sort of imagine a recovery. As sloppily as they played through three quarters, the Wizards still led by 10 in the fourth, when NBC Sports Washington — the team’s broadcasting partner — put LaVar on the air. He offered up a few more laughers.
About Wall: “I don’t care if he was a 12-time all-star; he gotta play,” the elder Ball said. “You can get beat on any given night. So all that all-star stuff don’t count unless you out here today doing your thing.”
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