LaVar Ball kept it honest with no filter or hesitation. When asked which of his sons caused the most trouble growing up, his answer was simple: None of them.
On the Big Baller podcast, LaVar refused to single anyone out. Instead, he broke it down his way. Each of his sons had their moments with small mistakes when they were young. But it was nothing serious enough to define them.
LaVar Ball: “None of them. None of them caused me the most trouble. Each of them did their little thing they did…”
Lonzo Ball: “You know Melo was the one.”
LaVar Ball: “No… N***a, you the one who got arrested.”
Lonzo Ball: “I didn’t get arrested. I didn’t get arrested.”
LaVar Ball: “It was before you had an egg down here in Denny’s… So they were around. I was flying, listening to rap music with the god damn rap music with the sirens in it. And it was the real sirens behind. And they just driving.”
LiAngelo Ball: “Bro left us at our uncle’s house. N***a never came back. Hey Zo, I’m gonna be right back.”
Lonzo Ball: “Auntie Stephanie, Uncle Dre crib.”
LaVar Ball: “That’s the only thing. Gelo, I was waiting for him to do something stupid. But he did it overseas. And that’s the only thing. He did it overseas. But that was his one dumb thing.”
“And then Melo, the only dumb thing he did was, I thought people was coming up to cheer cause we had a banquet. And they said, man, your sons are great. That’s what I wanted to hear. Them fools came to me and quietly whispered, your other son just stole the golf cart and wrecked it.”
“I said, what? Oh man. That’s the only, only like raggedy stuff. I can’t think of no other stuff where the boys.”
Lonzo Ball: “Nah, that’s fair though. But you had us in line and focused.”
Lonzo Ball got called out first. LaVar joked about having to deal with police situations tied to him. Lonzo pushed back right away, denying he ever got arrested. But LaVar doubled down, recalling moments where things got out of hand, and he had to step in as a father.
Then came LiAngelo Ball. LaVar admitted he always expected something from Gelo, and it happened. The well-known overseas incident in China became an example. LaVar brushed it off as one mistake.
Then LaMelo Ball got his moment. LaVar shared a story that summed it up perfectly. During what should have been a proud event, someone pulled him aside and quietly told him LaMelo had taken a golf cart and crashed it.
That was it.
That is where the conversation shifted. LaVar addressed the long-standing criticism about his parenting style. Many have said he pushed his sons too hard. He rejected that completely. According to him, everything came down to belief.
“Am I harder on myself or my boys? I’m not hard on either one of us. Come on, they’re just built for this, man. People, let me actually tell you about success. Success is, this is how you get to be successful. They believe in me, and I believe in them. So whatever I tell them as they’re growing up, you figure they’re gonna be successful.”
“And I gotta believe whatever I tell them is not too much. But you’re like, no, you can’t do that. So if we believe in each other, that’s how you’re gonna be successful. But I can’t be talking all the success stuff and living in an apartment, or not doing that. I’d be able to see it. These boys ain’t never want for nothing.”
“And that’s what our folks was saying when he was driving to school in BMWs and fancy cars, and people were stuck on the fence. Oh, you give them too much, what do you mean? I ain’t gotta pay for college.”
“And I’m like, if I’m giving you BMWs and these cars as you’re growing up, so when you decide to buy your own car that you work for and use your money, it better be better than this raggedy a** Escalade, this BMW.”
“Hey, don’t talk about that, that’s a learned a** guy. But now the cars they drive, Rolls-Royces, Maybachs, that’s what you working for. So it gotta be better than what I’ve been giving you for free. You know what I’m saying? So they mindset alone is life. You had it right. But they never was this hard.”
He explained success in simple terms. If you speak success into your kids, you have to live it too. You cannot talk big and live small. That was his philosophy, and that is why his sons grew up with access. LaVar made one point clear. If you grow up driving BMWs, your mindset changes. When it is time to earn your own money, you aim higher and do not settle. That expectation becomes normal.
Now look at the result.
Lonzo reached the NBA and became a starting guard. LaMelo became a star and franchise centerpiece. LiAngelo carved out his own path through professional basketball and opportunities tied to the brand, and is now a professional rapper.
LaVar sees that as proof.
To him, those small mistakes growing up mean nothing compared to the outcome. Structure, belief, and confidence mattered more than discipline through fear. And that is why he never picked one son over the others. Because in his eyes, none of them were problems.
