Inside LaMelo and LaVar Ball’s lavish NBA Draft night party

LaVar Ball wasn’t going to let a pandemic get in the way of a luxurious NBA Draft party.

LaMelo Ball didn’t get the typical draft experience at Barclays Center, but instead he became the No. 3 pick by the Hornets on Wednesday in the midst of a spectacle at the Ball’s compound in Chino Hills, Calif., according to ESPN’s Tim Keown, who was embedded at the party.

After a lead up to the pick that included LaMelo going for a drive in a Rolls Royce Cullinan SUV, an apparent draft-day gift, and Big Baller Brand accessories everywhere, LaVar celebrated his youngest son’s entry to the NBA in a way only he could.

“Tell MJ: Here we come! Tell MJ we’re coming!” LaVar told the room of people watching the draft, Keown reported.

MJ, of course, is Michael Jordan, the Hornets’ principal owner and Hall of Famer who LaVar previously claimed he could beat in a game of one-on-one. Now that game could turn into a business opportunity on pay-per-view, according to LaVar.

“Hey, if people are willing to pay to see 50-year-old Mike Tyson fight, why not?” LaVar told ESPN.

But LaVar – who was reportedly wearing a Big Baller Brand cap that read, “I Told You So” – is a fan of LaMelo going to Jordan’s organization.

“Greatness recognizes greatness,” LaVar said. “I always told my boys, ‘Someone has to be better than the best — why not you?'”

LaMelo made history for the Ball family three years after his brother, Lonzo, was drafted by the Lakers with the No. 2 pick. They became the first set of brothers ever to be taken in the top-three picks of the NBA draft, which did not go unnoticed when it was highlighted in a graphic during the broadcast.

“Would you look at that,” LaVar said, per ESPN. “Nobody ever done what I did.”