Kris Bryant's dad: LaVar Ball 'is going to ruin it for his kids'
Mike Bryant wants to offer LaVar Ball some fatherly advice.
Ball has constantly found his name in the news after talking up his son Lonzo's undisputed talents, as well as those of his two younger sons, while adding in his own quips regarding NBA superstars such as LeBron James and his children, as well as Michael Jordan.
The father of reigning National League MVP Kris Bryant knows what it's like to watch your son quickly rise through a team's ranks, and he warned the outspoken parent that his constant opinions will have a negative effect on his sons' development.
"The guy is going to ruin it for his kids," Mike said Tuesday, according to ESPN's Jesse Rogers. "I mean that in a sympathetic/empathetic way. Let his kids go out there and play and let the rest happen. But to compare him to Michael Jordan and better than Steph Curry, c'mon, that's disrespecting those guys.
"If I had five minutes with him and I could get him to listen for two of them I think I could get him to think a little bit."
Though Lonzo's road to a national championship with UCLA ended Friday at the hands of Kentucky, the freshman's run has put him into consideration for the Wooden Award, which honors the season's top college basketball athlete. But Mike feels all the 19-year-old's success will be quickly forgotten if his father continues to stir controversy.
"The spotlight is on (LaVar) and all for the wrong reasons," he said. "It's too bad. I wonder if it's a tragedy waiting to happen or if something good can come out of it.
"It makes my skin crawl. My wife would smack me upside the head if I acted like that."