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Kirk Herbstreit sounds off on LaVar Ball’s ESPN appearance
By Will Ogburn
Published:
The made-for-social-media persona of LaVar Ball, father of UCLA basketball player Lonzo Ball, was given another platform on Thursday, as Ball made an appearance on ESPN’s First Take.
This appearance went almost exactly as expected when the larger-than-life egos of Ball and ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith clashed. The conversation erratically jumped between various hypothetical matchups between the Ball family and the greatest NBA players of all time and even eroded to Ball singing an off-the-cuff theme song about himself.
This was only the most recent stop in a media tour by Ball that has consumed the NBA conversation, but it has stayed mostly contained in that realm.
LaVar Ball vs. Michael Jordan Be Like… w/ @FamousLos32 pic.twitter.com/vD9ziffnyG
— Dot (@BdotAdot5) March 19, 2017
That all changed when ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, arguably the face of their college football coverage, decided to chime in:
He's winning unfortunately. He keeps getting a forum to "do his thing". We can hate it all we want–but he's figured out the 2017 way. #Sad https://t.co/2muF17YwY6
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) March 23, 2017
He's like a WWE character. Clearly doesn't believe half the stuff he says–but it creates headlines and getting people's attention. Sucks. https://t.co/Sqx3Pl0isC
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) March 23, 2017
We gotta winner here folks https://t.co/e8DjuuhMOK
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) March 23, 2017
Herbstreit points out a very key point in the Ball saga and one that has escaped several in the media: there’s a very good possibility that Ball is making up many of these ridiculous claims to grab headlines.
Whatever his motive, Herbstreit clearly isn’t impressed by the bravado of Ball, who has demanded a $1 billion dollar sponsorship for all three of his sons before any of them have taken a dribble in the NBA. The usually humble Herbstreit stepped a bit out of his comfort zone to slam Ball’s grandiose claims and voice what most of America is thinking.
A former resident of both Baton Rouge and the heart of Crimson Tide country, Will Ogburn handles multimedia content and news coverage for Saturday Down South.
