Steve Kerr Criticizes Sports Media Coverage of LaVar Ball's Tirades
Golden State Warriors' Steve Kerr is the latest NBA coach to speak up against the attention that sports media outlets are giving to LaVar Ball.
Ball is known for not mincing his words when expressing his thoughts on several topics, especially when it comes to the NBA since his son, Lonzo, is currently one of the best rookies in the league and is playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.
However, Kerr and other NBA coaches were recently prompted to speak up against Ball's recent tirades that were aimed at L.A. Lakers head coach Luke Walton.
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While in Lithuania with his two younger sons who are playing for a local team, Ball recently told ESPN that players in the Lakers' roster no longer wanted to play under Walton's guidance. He went as far as to say that the head coach could no longer control his players, and while the Lakers was a good team, Walton was "not connecting" with them anymore.
This prompted Kerr to refer to Ball as the "Kardashian of the NBA." He also revealed that he had been asking people from the media why they continued covering what Ball says.
"And they say, 'Well, we don't want to. Nobody wants to. But our bosses tell us we have to, because of the ratings, because of the readership.' Somewhere — I guess (LaVar) is in Lithuania — LaVar Ball is laughing at all of us," Kerr added.
The Golden State Warriors' head coach also implied that Ball and the media coverage he is getting was an example of how, nowadays, "it doesn't matter if there's any substance involved in an issue."
Meanwhile, Kerr also commented on how ESPN spent for a reporter's trip to Lithuania to follow Ball "while laying off people who are writing really substantial (stories)," as he cited sports journalists like Ethan Strauss and Marc Stein who used to work for the media outlet.
Interestingly, the Lakers' front office has yet to issue a statement of support for Walton. However, Laker rookie Kyle Kuzma spoke on the issue and called the controversial statements against Walton "white noise."
Kuzma added: "Luke is my guy. I love playing for him. I'm sure most of us love playing for him too. ... We stand by Luke. I know the front office does."
Walton used to play for the Lakers from 2003 to 2012 before being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers the following year. He continued his NBA career as one of the coaches for the Golden State Warriors from 2014 to 2016 and was then signed on to be the Lakers head coach for five years.
