Jordan Poole and Steve Kerr talk about the Warriors guard’s improvement since he spent a short stint in the G League. Poole has averaged 19.0 points per game in five games since coming back to the NBA.
LaVar Ball never wanted his son LaMelo to be drafted by the Warriors, and he got his wish on Nov. 18 when Golden State selected James Wiseman with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
In September, LaVar said he didn't think LaMelo fit with Warriors stars Steph Curry and Klay Thompson because his son would essentially have to wait his turn to become a star.
LaMelo was drafted No. 3 overall by the Charlotte Hornets and currently is the frontrunner for NBA Rookie of the Year.
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Now, more than six months after his original comments, LaVar has elaborated on why he didn't think LaMelo would fit with the Warriors, and it has a lot to do with the coaching.
Mychal Thompson, father of Klay and current broadcaster for the Los Angeles Lakers, joined the "Mason and Ireland" show on ESPN 710 in LA, and was part of an interview with LaVar.
"I told Steve Kerr, and time has gone by, I called him the Milli Vanilli of coaching," LaVar said Thursday, referring to the R&B duo from the late 1980s and early 1990s. "Don't get mad at me because that's what it is. But he's going to hold something against my son if he start doing some stuff and this what he going to say 'We don't do that around here.' Now you got Melo trying to play the game listening to me and the guy he works for. You can't perform like that. You can't have that over your head."
When Mychal asked LaVar if he expected his sons to listen to him over their particular coach, the elder Ball was emphatic.
Golden State Warriors
"I don't expect them [to]. I know they will," LaVar said.
LaVar was then asked to explain why he considers Kerr the "Milli Vanilli" of basketball coaching.
"He called me the Kardashian of basketball," LaVar said. "All he had to do was call me LaVar Ball and we woulda been fine. I call him the Milli Vanilli because you ain't coaching, you just standing up. I could coach them with my eyes closed."
LaVar is entitled to his opinion, but Kerr came to the Warriors in 2014 and implemented an offensive system that took advantage of the elite shooting skills of Curry and Thompson. It led to an immediate NBA championship in his first season as coach and a 73-win regular season in his second year.
For what it's worth, LaMelo disagreed with his father in September, saying he could fit in on any team.
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And while there's a portion of the Warriors' fan base that wishes LaMelo was on the Warriors right now, the team is perfectly happy with Wiseman, who has shown the potential to be a superstar. He certainly needs more development time than LaMelo, but the future is bright for the 7-foot center.
As for LaVar and Kerr, don't expect them to make plans to hang out on the Fourth of July.
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