USA TODAY US Edition

LaVar Ball may get even louder

- Josh Peter @joshlpeter­11 USA TODAY Sports

Now, you have to wonder. Maybe LaVar Ball would have beaten Michael Jordan one-on-one when Ball was in his prime. Maybe Lonzo Ball is better than Stephen Curry.

And maybe Nike, Adidas or Under Armour should give LaVar Ball $1 billion in exchange for an endorsemen­t deal with his three sons — Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo.

All of LaVar’s absurd demands and statements — including that Lonzo would end up with the Los Angeles Lakers — no longer look so absurd after the Lakers secured the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft and a likely chance to select Lonzo.

Of course, LaVar Ball celebrated with customary modesty.

“I know I must be a genius to plan it this well,” he told the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles on Tuesday after the draft lottery.

“Genius” is not the word most people have used to describe LaVar Ball, the human bullhorn who has exchanged insults with Charles Barkley, his sons’ sincefired high school basketball coach and anybody else who fires insults his way.

More recently, charging $495 for a Lonzo Ball shoe only reinforced LaVar’s reputation as a laughingst­ock. But for anybody who thought he was nothing but a fool, the joke could be on you.

Playing for the Lakers, Lonzo would have a chance to restore glory to the franchise and, with his ever-present father in the stands, turn the family’s Big Baller Brand into a very big business. Of which LaVar now has the right to crow.

So if you’re tired of hearing about the biggest mouth in basketball, we suggest you silence all of your electronic devices. Because after Tuesday night, it’s going to be impossible to silence LaVar Ball.

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