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Whatever his sons’ high school can do, LaVar Ball thinks he can do better.
Everyone’s favorite love-to-hate basketball dad has pulled his youngest son, LaMelo, out of Chino Hills High School and plans to home-school and train him on his own, the Los Angeles Times learned Monday. LaMelo, 16, had begun his junior year at the California school.
LaVar Ball has been known to clash with the coaches of his sons’ basketball team, forcing himself into the locker room to address the players and watching as last year’s coach, Stephan Gilling, was fired after their feud went public.
Chino Hills’ newest coach, former Division-I player Dennis Latimore, apparently has done even less to meet LaVar’s standards. After guiding his two older sons, Lonzo and LiAngelo, to UCLA basketball scholarships, LaVar expects the same path for LaMelo and doesn’t think the Chino Hills program is up to the task.
“I’m not dealing with the coach over there,” Ball told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne on Monday night. “I’m not dealing with the administration over there. I don’t want no distractions on Melo. So therefore I’m going to home school him and make him the best basketball player ever.”
Ball added that he doesn’t like Latimore “one bit” for thinking he can make decisions on the team’s personnel and strategy without consulting his best player’s father. Ball also suggested Latimore was showing personal bias by passing on LaMelo’s teammates who train with LaVar at his in-house facility.
“The coach has his own frame of mind on how he wants to play and who he picks in the team,” Ball said. “OK, y’all got that going on, let’s see how you do without my tutelage. Without me training those players at my house. It seems like anybody who’s training over here, that coach don’t want him in the team.”
With Lonzo off in the NBA — set to make his preseason debut with the Lakers on Wednesday — and LiAngelo now in college, LaVar has more time to dedicate to his littlest prodigy. His perfect UCLA track record now depends on it.
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