I hope his son gets slammed to the court many times this season.

Quote:LAS VEGAS -- LaVar Ball blasted the female referee who gave him a technical foul Friday morning at a basketball tournament.

The technical call on Ball, coach of the Big Baller Brand AAU team, led to the referee being replaced midgame.

"She got a vendetta because she's a woman who's trying to act -- I get that she's trying to break into the refereeing thing," Ball told ESPN after the game. "But just giving techs and calling fouls, that's no way to do it.

"I know what she trying to say: 'Oh I gave him a tech. I'm strong.' That ain't got nothing to do with it. Just call the game. If you're going to be qualified, you better be in shape and you better know the game. And she's bad on both of them. She's not in shape, she's not calling the game right. And she don't understand.

"And now she's trying to make a name for herself, so she's walking around like, 'You know I'm the only woman in here.' Yeah, we get it. I don't care if you're a woman, or a man or whatever, just be good at what you do.

"Don't try to step in the lane. She needs to stay in her lane because she ain't ready for this. [Ref] the little kids first and then come up. Because she ain't did enough. She ain't got enough on her résumé, I could tell."

Ball threatened to pull his team off the court in the first half of Friday morning's Adidas Summer Championships game against Team BBC after receiving the technical foul. Shortly after yelling, "We need to get someone else in here" while pointing to the referee, Ball turned to his team and said, "Let's go." The players began to pick up their bags and walk off the court.

After a long meeting between the coaches, representatives from Adidas and representatives from Court Club Elite, which supplies the officials, the game resumed -- with a different official in place of the one who gave a technical to Ball.

Adidas, which runs the event, said it was their decision to replace the referee.

"There was some miscommunication," said Chris Rivers, Adidas director of global basketball sports marketing. "The NBA don't put certain people with certain guys, either. If there's a history or miscommunication, that happens."

The referee also officiated Big Baller Brand's game Wednesday, when Ball received his first technical foul of the week.

"She came into this game knowing what she was going to do," Ball said Friday. "I knew it, too. I could've told you all if you was to interview me before the game, and I'd say, 'I guarantee you she give me a tech on some BS.' And look what happened. You're just going be known for that, that's all. See where she refs at next week."

The game eventually ended early after Ball received his second technical foul and was ejected. Tournament organizers decided to end the game as opposed to playing the final minutes of Team BBC's 53-43 win. Ball's team plays again Friday night at 11 ET.

The replaced referee, whose name was not given by tournament officials, declined comment. She officiates NCAA Division I women's basketball games.

Former NBA referee Ed Rush, who runs Court Club Elite, denied Ball's vendetta accusation.

"How can you have a history and she [works women's basketball]?" Rush said. "She just arrived here two days ago."

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketb...team-court

Quote:Before a female referee was replaced on Friday, officials with Adidas had pressured referees at their Summer Championships event in Las Vegas to avoid calling technical fouls against LaVar Ball because of his drawing power and their potential courtship of Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball, a source told ESPN.

Editor's Picks

Ball: Ref who gave me technical isn't qualified

LaVar Ball threatened to pull his Big Baller Brand AAU team off the court on Friday morning after receiving a technical foul, eventually leading to a female referee being replaced midgame.

The source said event officals, supplied by ex-NBA ref Ed Rush's Court Club Elite group, were told to "put three officials on the game who will keep him in the building" whenever LaVar's Big Baller Brand team played this week.

Ball was given a technical by the referee working Friday's game and, after Ball threatened to pull his team off the court -- as he had done in a different tournament last week -- she was removed from the game.

Adidas representatives said it was their decision to replace the referee, who is a Division I women's basketball official, though neither she nor Adidas would provide her name.

"There was some miscommunication," said Chris Rivers, Adidas director of global basketball sports marketing. "The NBA don't put certain people with certain guys, either. If there's a history or miscommunication, that happens."

During Big Baller Brand's win over Play Hard Play Smart on Thursday, Ball told a referee "You're the worst f---ing ref who ever lived," per the source. But the referee did not call a technical foul on Ball because of the strong suggestions from Adidas.

"Under normal circumstances, the sideline behavior, including profanity and sideline antics, would have demanded a technical foul under the category of disrespecting the game," the source said. "However, due to strong messaging [from Adidas] to extend those guidelines in an effort to keep [Ball] in the gym, the officiating crew felt uncomfortable enforcing the technical foul rule for actions that clearly warranted [action]."

Ball's scolding of the female official who was ultimately replaced after calling a technical foul against him Friday morning constituted "continual and prolonged derogatory comments toward the crew and, in particular, her," according to the source.

The female official was "standing up for the integrity of the game" before she was replaced, the source said.

Ball went on a postgame tirade about the referee, saying, "She's trying to make a name for herself, so she's walking around like, 'You know I'm the only woman in here.' Yeah, we get it. I don't care if you're a woman or a man or whatever -- just be good at what you do."

His team was scheduled to play again later Friday night, but tournament officials did not know whether he and the team would show up.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20184...lavar-ball

Back in the 80s when I was in and just out of HS, I was a huge Laker fan. I watched Magic, Worthy, Kareem, Scott, etc battle the Celtics each year it seemed, for the title.
But then the Kobie/Shaq "who's the leader?" thing came. Other stuff too. Since then I really have no stomach or interest in the Lakers or really pro basketball. I haven't watched a Laker game (or really any NBA game) in maybe....10-12 years. The Lakers drama just took out the interest I guess.

Max Kellerman actually made one of his first sane comments when it came to the latest Lavar Ball incident.

(08-03-2017 12:59 AM)RunnerBall Wrote:  Back in the 80s when I was in and just out of HS, I was a huge Laker fan. I watched Magic, Worthy, Kareem, Scott, etc battle the Celtics each year it seemed, for the title.
But then the Kobie/Shaq "who's the leader?" thing came. Other stuff too. Since then I really have no stomach or interest in the Lakers or really pro basketball. I haven't watched a Laker game (or really any NBA game) in maybe....10-12 years. The Lakers drama just took out the interest I guess.

So the Lakers drafted the son for the drama with daddy.

Also:

Officiating group cutting ties with Adidas after replacement of female referee

Quote:LAS VEGAS -- The group that supplied officials for the Adidas Uprising Summer Championships, in which LaVar Ball successfully petitioned for a female referee to be replaced after she gave him a technical foul on Friday, will terminate its five-year relationship with the sneaker company due to the incident.

"The events that led to the removal of a female official on Friday are something that shall not and will not be accepted within the officiating community," Court Club Elite, an organization that trains and develops referees at amateur and professional levels, said in its statement to ESPN. "Adidas and their leadership acted in a manner that does not parallel our views on integrity or professionalism, and neither should be compromised as they were in this situation. It was clear that the actions of the official in enforcing and addressing unsporting behavior were defendable and fitting of the behavior displayed; however, the agenda and lack of courage to do the right thing by Adidas leadership sent a clear message that the game and those chosen to protect the integrity were not of priority."

On Friday morning, LaVar Ball threatened to pull elite recruit LaMelo Ball, his son, and the rest of the Big Baller Brand AAU team from the floor after he was assigned a technical foul by a female official, the same official who gave him a technical foul in a game Wednesday. Ball yelled for Adidas officials to have her removed.

They obliged and replaced her midgame with a male official, though Adidas rep Chris Rivers said the shoe giant made the decision, not Ball. Later, the contest was stopped with five minutes to play after Ball received additional technical fouls.

Earlier, ESPN reported that Adidas had pressured officials from Court Club Elite to "put three officials on the game who will keep [LaVar Ball] in the building" due to his drawing power and its interest in Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball, per a source. On Friday, ESPN reported Court Club Elite had sought an all-female crew for Big Baller Brand's Friday night game in a show of solidarity for the replaced female official, per a source, but a "compromise" for two females and one male on the crew inexplicably switched to one female official on the crew by tipoff.

After the game, Ball claimed that the female official from Friday's game was "out of shape," not qualified to officiate and desperate to make a name off him. He also claimed that she had acted as if she had something to prove as one of the few female officials in the tournament.

"This appalling story about the female referee removed during an AAU game warrants serious discussion," the National Basketball Referees Association, the union representing league officials, tweeted Sunday. "First, the misogynistic comments and intimidation by the coach have no place in basketball or anywhere. The actions by Adidas show what happens when an organization does not support those tasked with protecting the integrity of the game. We support the referee community. This offensive behavior cannot stand [and] hurts all those involved in basketball."

Ball later said that he had no regrets about his statements and denied that gender played a role in his reaction.

"It's not about me hating that lady or something like that," he told reporters on Saturday. "She just got caught in a bad place: messing with me. She's good. She's probably a great ref with the women. But this men's stuff? It's a difference between women's basketball and men's basketball. Just because we go like that and don't hit the ball don't mean it's a foul. But don't get your feelings personal."

Ed Rush, the NBA's former director of officials and founder of Court Club Elite, said the referee Adidas replaced, a woman who has not been identified, had no personal vendetta against Ball.

She is a Division I women's basketball official. Rush said the woman was selected from hundreds of qualified applicants. Despite what Ball said of her credentials, she is devoted to her craft, as proven by her insistence on learning and developing, sometimes studying film this week until 11 p.m., Rush said.

"As we conclude the 2017 Court Club Elite referee experience, I'm incredibly proud of our members as they responded in a highly professional manner to the challenges of officiating many games in the Adidas Uprising Summer Championships," Rush said in the statement to ESPN. "This group of officials reflected professionalism and integrity in their decision-making, both on and off the court."