https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2018/06/14/feature/lavar-balls-wifes-quiet-recovery/ [...] “I coach Tina, like, you know, on a tough basis the same way I do my boys,” LaVar says, and indeed he views his wife’s ailment as a new opportunity to tighten the emotional screws until something breaks down — the weakness or the person. “. . . You can solve a stroke. It just takes time.” If, on the other side of the planet, Tina is recovering with puzzles and daily repetition, LaVar believes in a different approach. He says it was initially his idea to prohibit Tina from using a wheelchair, not explicitly as a challenge but because, he says, Tina would be “tearing up our house.” Rather than slow his gait when they’d go to lunch in Chino Hills, he’d point out she’s “moving like an old-ass lady” because she uses a cane or advise Tina to “put your damn foot forward and walk!” “Keep moving slow; I’m gonna be inside with the AC blowing,” he now recalls telling her. “[Shoot], I’m not waiting all day for you to walk across the street; you better get to moving.” LaVar will, during a one-hour interview, praise his wife’s fortitude and progress, but more frequently he brags about the harsh things he has told her over the past 15 months. His words draw shocked expressions from strangers, he says, and LaVar’s own mother often leaves the room when he speaks to Tina this way. He does not apologize for this or much else, and he believes — or says he believes — Lonzo is the first but not the last of his sons to reach the NBA because of two things: LaVar’s unreasonable expectations and God’s plan, which apparently included giving Tina a near-fatal stroke. “The Lord said: I’m going to tuck her away in this hospital for a minute, LaVar, till you finish doing what you’re doing,” he says, going on to suggest that his wife’s affliction in no way disrupts their pursuit of success and that he never worried about her because, simply, he’s too lucky for his wife to die young. “She’ll be a little — excuse my language — [messed] up, but she ain’t gonna die,” he says, and with a videographer maneuvering around the suite, it’s difficult to know whether LaVar truly believes what he’s saying or if it’s just good TV. [...] In his suite on this afternoon, during an interview he insists is recorded, LaVar sidesteps questions that would humanize him and offsets the occasional tender moment about his wife — “As long as she can smile, give a kiss and a hug,” he says, “I’m good” — with striking displays of cruelty — “That’s probably why she had the stroke, so she can be quiet for a minute.” [...]
this big mouth is F**king clueless. in Mid-May, LAL's Magic Johnson leaked to the press that "no one on the team is untouchable"; it effectively was a response to LeBron's inquiry (thru a 3rd party) if LAL was willing to make roster moves to accommodate LBJ specifically, team LeBron wanted to know if LAL was willing to take CP3 over Lonzo BS even when Lonzo was playing for his Dad during his AAU day, he was a lousy free thrower, but not sub-50%. speculation abound that LAL are working behind the scene dangling Lonzo to the Phnx Sun, who covets a capable young pg to accentuate young Devin Booker's skills even more, but Sun must also take on Deng's contract.