President Donald J. Trump responded to the bombastic Big Baller Brand founder LaVar Ball on Twitter Sunday afternoon saying he should have left Ball's son, a UCLA basketball star, in a Chinese jail.
Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2017
Lauretta and Christine covered this story earlier in the week. LiAngelo Ball, younger brother of Los Angeles Lakers' rookie Lonzo Ball, is a star athlete at UCLA. While oversees in China for a tournament, Ball along with two other teammates were accused of shoplifting.
"The three freshmen players, LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley, had been detained for a week in their hotel rooms in Hangzhou after they were accused of shoplifting from a Louis Vuitton boutique. UCLA was in China for a game against Georgia Tech in Shanghai. The three did not play."
After hearing reports of the situation, President Trump told members of the press that he would intercede on the three Americans behalf.
"Trump told reporters on Air Force One Tuesday that he brought up the players' fate in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, adding that they were working on allowing the players to return home.
"What they did was unfortunate,” Trump said of the players. “You know, you're talking about very long prison sentences. They do not play games."
"Hopefully everything is going to work out,” Trump added, calling it "a very rough situation." He said President Xi Jinping had been " terrific on that subject."
President Trump's intercession worked. The three players were sent back to the United States. However, President Trump tweeted his dissatisfaction with their lack of thanks.
Do you think the three UCLA Basketball Players will say thank you President Trump? They were headed for 10 years in jail!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2017
The players promptly said thank you. It seemed as if the saga was over.
That is until LaVar Ball, who may be the only person in the world more outspoken and more proud of his last name than President Trump is, issued an insult towards the president yesterday.
LaVar Ball downplayed his son's shoplifting incident in China, as well as President Donald Trump's involvement in getting LiAngelo Ball and two other UCLA basketball players back to the United States earlier this week.
"Who?" LaVar Ball told ESPN on Friday, when asked about Trump's involvement in the matter. "What was he over there for? Don't tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out."
This led to the inevitable; Twitter and the internet predicting a Donald Trump v. LaVar Ball show down.
We laugh now but LaVar Ball vs. Donald Trump at WrestleMania is a real possibility
— Isaac (@WorldofIsaac) November 18, 2017
Sunday afternoon, President Trump delivered his response. President Trump's aforementioned tweet is already getting plenty of responses on Twitter.
LaVar Ball vs. Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/thQW3s3oCL
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) November 19, 2017
Lavar Ball rushing to do an interview about Donald Trump for more publicity pic.twitter.com/283LvXklwT
— Ryan Satin (@ryansatin) November 19, 2017
Strike up another victory for Big Baller Brand. The more hype, the merrier. A Donald Trump vs LaVar Ball beef truly defines America in 2017. Can't believe it took this long.
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) November 19, 2017
LaVar Ball vs. Donald Trump is the epic clash of the intellectual titans America deserves.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) November 19, 2017
It is unclear what, if any, political or business ramifications there will be to President Trump or the Big Baller Brand from this fiasco.