LaVar Ball wanted LaMelo to end up with the Knicks
Hoping his son would go to New York, LaVar Ball was like every other Knicks fan watching the draft lottery: crushed.
“Man! God dang,” LaVar shouted as the Knicks were announced as having the eighth pick. “That was a knockout punch. Something good was supposed to happen for the Knicks. I can’t break all the curses.”
LaVar’s reactions from the August lottery were documented on his family’s reality show, “Ball In The Family,” and released this week. It reinforces LaVar’s strong desire for his youngest son, LaMelo Ball, to land in the Big Apple. With LaMelo projected as a top-3 pick, the Knicks would have to trade up to land the tantalizing point guard.
LaMelo ended up going to the Hornets with the No. 3 overall pick.
Team president Leon Rose just swapped his 27th and 38th picks with Utah for the 23rd pick, which theoretically would give the Knicks a better package to move up further in the draft. Getting into the top-3 would be difficult, however, and the latest rumor is that they’re making a push for Dayton’s Obi Toppin, who is projected in the 4-to-6 range.
LaVar’s on the record declaring the Knicks and Pistons as top destinations, but LaMelo has distanced himself from his father’s declarations. LaMelo also decided against endorsing his father’s sneaker company, Big Baller Brand, and instead signed with Puma.
“You have to ask him,” LaMelo said about his father’s desire to have him go to the Knicks.
LaVar was much more of a presence and media sensation when his oldest son, Lonzo, was a top draft prospect in 2017. He targeted the Lakers for Lonzo, and boasted of speaking it into existence after Magic Johnson used the second overall pick on the point guard. The Knicks, who finished with the league’s 7th-worst record, had a 9% chance of picking first and a 37.2% chance of landing in the top-4. Instead, they fell back a spot.
The Knicks have not moved up in the lottery since getting the first overall pick (Patrick Ewing) in 1985. LaVar had hoped his son will resurrect a franchise that hasn’t won a title in nearly 50 years.
“They don’t have anything,” LaVar said before the lottery on the ‘Say Less’ podcast. “The last time they won a championship back in the 70s. The bright lights. You need a whole new turnaround over there.”