Should we expect a war of words between Donald Trump and Lavar Ball now? For those that are interested this could get good. Of course that’s a very subjective term since more often than not both men are the type of individuals that a lot of people don’t want to listen to or even hear about. But in this case, brace yourself for it, Donald Trump actually made sense with what he said. Take a moment to mull that over, lean against a wall if the unexpected woozy feeling comes over you from realizing that Trump did in fact say something that made sense.
The whole issue at this moment stems from the actions of three UCLA basketball players, LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill, and Codey Riley, while they were in China playing the opening game of their season. UCLA won, but by the time the team was on the plane and in the air the three athletes named above were looking at the possibility of spending a very long time in China due to the confirmed fact that they shoplifted several items from stores that were near their hotel. It might sound wrong and seem to be pushing immorality, but it would seem that no one ever mentioned to these guys that you 1) don’t take things that don’t belong to you without paying for them, and 2) don’t steal from a place that’s near where you live or where you’re staying, and of course 3) JUST DON’T STEAL.
According to several sources the three athletes would have been looking at about 10 years in jail if Trump hadn’t stepped in and spoken to the right people to get this problem sorted out. It seems a bit counterproductive but he essentially cut a deal that allowed the three young men to go home and in so doing they had to submit a public apology and are now suspended indefinitely from the basketball program. It seems a fitting punishment in the eyes of some people, but now the big controversy is that after finding out that his son would be returning home, Lavar Ball, LiAngelo’s father, flat out dismissed the fact that Trump helped his son out of a bind.
Ball isn’t known for being the brightest bulb in the box but insulting a man that’s in the position that Trump is, and acting as though it was an act of charity that he doesn’t want to accept, seems to be a bit unwise. Trump was obviously less than pleased by Ball’s response and a result said in a tweet that he should have left the young men in jail. These are hard words from the POTUS but the response from Ball could have been a little more gracious than what he actually said.
As for the athletes their apologies seemed sincere at least, as much as they could be while reading a prepared statement to the press.
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