Petty feud not only degrades those involved, but us all
A corrosive feud between the world’s most despised basketball father, Lavar Ball, and Philadelhia 76ers Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons sounds plantational.
As usual, these black men lack mental skills, maturity and personal fortitude to escape the typical black on black animosity.
It’s the field Negroes vs. the house Negroes in another sad story as radio talk show hosts goad NBA players and Lavar Ball into verbal warfare.
What an embarrassment. Black NBA players and Ball getting played as they sink to the level of raw sewage.
Embiid, proclaimed an NBA legend after 31 games, exhibited immaturity with his recent outburst of “F**k, Lavar Ball.”
Are you kidding me? That behavior should make Embiid really marketable. Hey, but it is Philly with fans who had the audacity to place Embiid and Wilt Chamberlain in the same sentence.
Wilt “The Stilt” allegedly bedded more women (he claimed 10,000) than injury prone Embiid may accumulate in an NBA career.
If you don’t play, Embiid laced up for 31 games, then suffered a season-ending knee injury, then you can’t score.
Embiid jump started this feud as soon as the Lakers selected Lonzo Ball with the second pick in the NBA draft.
Embiid tweeted this plea to injury prone Simmons, “Please dunk on him so hard that his daddy runs on the court to save him.”
Instead of offering celebration that all four young black men had navigated this early stage of life and earned NBA status, Simmons and Embiid bum rushed Lonzo Ball.
It’s a dark disgrace that delivers more social fodder for people to ridicule black men. No skin off mine body but these guys look and sound stupid.
Part of our national history gives celebration in the portrayal of black men at each other’s throats. Malcolm X or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ali or Frazier, Lebron or Michael, etc.
Must we choose or can black people embrace the full circle of us? My love extends to Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Chamberlain.
Bottom line, you don’t see white players caught up in this crap, unable to maneuver through mind games or escape the lures, hooks, lines or sinkers delivered by snake oil salesmen working as undercover sports radio talk show hosts.
Lavar Ball delivered these thoughts to 97.5 Phanatic radio hosts Geoff Mosher and Rob Ellis.
“When you don’t win and don’t even make the playoffs, and don’t even stay on the court long enough, that’s the best thing you can do is Tweet, make some stuff. Ain’t nobody else doing that, because they’re working on their game in the gym. These guys ain’t played a game, always hurt, and at the bottom of the totem pole.”
Not that Lavar Ball should stand as judge and jury or comment about Embiid or Simmons but they stay hurt.
“So guess what, get your asses off the goddamn Tweeter, and get in the gym,” Lavar Ball added.
“They’re good, they made it to the NBA, they’re good kids that can play, it’s just sometimes, these people get to twist their words and make it seem like they’re doing something. Don’t complain and talk about stuff, go ahead and do something.”
Through all the nonsense, Lonzo Ball has shown maturity, saying almost nothing despite disses by Embiid, Simmons and Fultz.”
After being chosen by the Lakers?
“I’m just thankful for everybody that helped me get here,” Lonzo Ball said. “I’m truly blessed to be able to play in my hometown, and I can’t wait to get on the court.”
And when Simmons remarked that Lavar Ball downs “crazy pills” because he said his son will lead the Lakers to the playoffs, Lonzo Ball responded “That’s funny.”
Ball, the player, has not allowed Ball, the father, to lead him into that abyss of tweets.
Critics talk about sins of fathers and that Lonzo will suffer because of what his daddy says or does. Let’s hope not.
By the way, Lonzo Ball started his professional career by playing in the NBA summer league while Embiid and Simmons will stay off the court.
All the social media bull crap, Instagrams and Twitter posts mean nothing.
Nobody’s ever talked or danced a team to an NBA championship.