Lithuanian team lambastes LaVar Ball and family in scathing press release
Four months after LaVar Ball announced his sons LaMelo and LiAngelo were quitting Lithuania’s National Basketball League with two games left in the season because “I just didn’t get along with the coach,” the BC Prienai club and coach Virjginijus Seskus are firing back — and pulling no punches.
In a press release entitled, “Big Baller Brand tried to destroy the club,” the team claimed “the club and its goals were merely a joke to the BBB, who were there only to breathe life into their dying TV show.”
Yikes. Tell us how you really feel, Lithuania.
Ball Brothers former coach in Lithuania finally fires back:
“The most disappointing fact was that they had no inner drive to become better.” – Virginijus Seskus pic.twitter.com/TvdyyYcdme
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) August 23, 2018
‘They had no inner drive to become better’
“The first and most crucial mistake we made was allowing them, especially Lavar, think that they are in charge of the club — its decisions, its plans and even the game,” Seskus said in the press release issued Thursday, via Eurohoops.net. “His boys were nowhere near the level of the LKL, let alone NBA, which league obviously understands, seeing the draft outcome. And the most disappointing fact was that they had no inner drive to become better. And when they saw it was going nowhere, they started destroying the club, not paying out prize money to the Big Baller Brand tournament winners, etc.”
In addition to accusing the Balls of failing to pay prize money, BC Prienai also said the family pulled a financial commitment to the club without notice and left with the shooting machines that were presented to the team as a gift, leaving Prienai “without sponsorship and base for future planning.” The Lithuanian team did credit the Ball brothers for temporarily helping save it from a financial crisis.
Lithuanian coach on Ball brothers: ‘They’re lazy’
What’s more, Seskus issued scathing scouting reports of the Ball brothers on Friday:
Prienai coach Seskus on Ball family: „When our relationship got worse, we saw they were unconcerned. It looked like they were cheering for opposing team. I respect Gelo a lot – he is a good kid. But his father disturbs them to go forward.”
— Donatas Urbonas (@Urbodo) August 24, 2018
Coach Seskus on LaMelo: "It will be hard for him if somebody won't push him to work. He is a talent, but they're lazy. In Prienai we tried to make them eat well & healthy but they did whatever they wanted. If we didn't watch them closely, they weren't making effort in exercising"
— Donatas Urbonas (@Urbodo) August 24, 2018
BC Prienai finished dead last in 2017-18
LiAngelo, 19, averaged 12.6 points on 42.5 percent shooting in 21.7 minutes per game, mostly off the bench, over 14 appearances for Vytautas, according to RealGM.com. The 16-year-old LaMelo appeared in just eight games, averaging 6.5 points on 26.8 percent shooting in 12.8 minutes, per RealGM. Prienai finished last and was relegated to the Lithuanian basketball league’s second division last season.
Upon pulling his sons from the team before the end of the season in April, LaVar said, “You really ask me this? Coach ruined everything and he’ll have to pay the price that Melo is not coming back.”
The Big Baller Brand has more issues than this
LiAngelo left UCLA and LaMelo dropped out of high school to pursue their professional basketball careers in Lithuania. LiAngelo declared for the 2018 NBA draft in March. He was not selected. Both LiAngelo and LaMelo played in the Big Baller-branded Junior Basketball Association over the summer.
A former JBA player claimed last week that LaVar’s league cut off contact with him after reneging on his paycheck. LaVar’s Big Baller Brand received an “F” rating from the Better Business Bureau for failing to fulfill orders in January. The family’s Facebook show, “Ball In The Family,” is alive and well.
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Ben Rohrbach is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
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