LaVar Ball doesn’t care about his reported ESPN ban, but is defending the comments that spurred plenty of backlash.
Basketball’s most famous father got himself into some hot water after ESPN’s “First Take” host Molly Qerim said she was “switching gears” to the next question during the show last Monday.
Ball responded by saying, “You can switch gears with me any day.” Qerim was shocked by Ball’s awkward comment, telling him to “stay focused.” ESPN later labeled Balls’ words as “completely inappropriate.”
Ball doesn’t believe they were.
“I don’t even have to respond to that on the fact that I meant no sexual intent,” Ball said on Saturday while attending his son LaMelo’s Drew League game in Los Angeles. “Nothing on the fact that ‘switch gears’ means change topics to me. Her mind in the gutter and she think of something else. Only time I hit on her is if she’s breaking in my house, and I mistake her for the boogeyman.”
Ball also balked at the idea the he was “banned” from appearing on ESPN.
“How am I gonna be banned?” Ball said. “I don’t work for them. I gotta be banned from ESPN? I got my own show [“Ball In The Family”].”
ESPN said last week that it has “no plans moving forward” to use Ball, the father of the Pelicans’ Lozno Ball, as an on-air guest and an on-the-record source.