LaVar Ball has no regrets as LaMelo, Lonzo deal with injuries he blames on NBA

Let’s start first at the end: LaVar Ball won.

Whatever else is true, whatever injuries have done to two of his sons, and whatever injuries may do to them in the months and years ahead, the brash, confident, bold patriarch who seemed to take all of the oxygen out of every basketball room he entered more than five years ago was correct on his kids.

They were — and still may be — the real deal. And they got paid for it. And that alone means their dad, whatever you felt about him or his message, did exactly what a dad is supposed to do. He succeeded in setting his sons up for massive success.

With LaMelo Ball and Lonzo Ball in the news recently, CBS Sports sought out their father, curious if there was any introspection or new perspectives in connection with the bold dad who feuded with the media, proclaimed his teenage sons’ greatness over and over, challenged various all-time greats, frustrated staid fans and basketball insiders and generally spun self-confidence and bluster into entertainment gold.

And it turns out there is some introspection to be found — for the rest of us. LaVar won, because his kids won.

Yes, last week, the Charlotte Hornets shut down LaMelo Ball for the remainder of the season. But that ankle injury — and the other injuries that have hampered his availability in his four years in the NBA — does not negate the five-year contract he signed last summer that could pay him as much as $260 million.

He’s still a career 20/6/7 player, even if he’ll end up playing just 58 total games between this and last year’s seasons.

His older brother, Lonzo, still has a player option this summer on a deal that by its end will have paid him $80 million, even though he hasn’t played an actual game in more than two years.

“Well, mentally, they got a strong mindset,” LaVar says. “They boss. So they’re going to come back. They’re going to rehab. They’re going to do their thing.”

Le’ts hope so. Both Lonzo and LaMelo, in vastly different ways, can still be difference makers in this league. And that LaVar thinks they’ll return, better than ever, is what you’d expect — but also worth listening to. He’s been right on them before.

There’s plenty of the LaVar you know in our conversation. Things like, “I’m always right — I hate to be right all the time, but it is what it is.” Or slipping in a shot at the shoes his Melo plays with now. Or the general bravado that marked LaVar’s 15 minutes or so of fame, that time between when Lonzo was drafted No. 2 overall in 2017 and when LaMelo went No. 3 overall in 2020.

But there’s also the final fact that his kids have lives, and careers, few could dream of having. And the Father’s pride, still bursting, even if the rest of him — likable, funny, direct, to-the-point — is a bit toned down.

A bit.

“As long as my boys are taking care of themselves and doing what they’re supposed to do, and get to do something…