LiAngelo Ball, LaMelo Ball to play first game in Lithuania

By Adam Zielonka and Special to The Washington Times - The Washington Times - Tuesday, January 9, 2018

It’s the start of a new chapter in the over-publicized Ball family saga.

Former UCLA basketball player LiAngelo Ball and his younger brother LaMelo will play their first professional game in Lithuania today at 1:30 ET.

Yes, Lithuania.

Their outspoken father, LaVar Ball, also the father of Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball, took his younger two sons out of their American schools and signed them with an agent last month.

Prienu Vytautas, a Lithuanian club, signed the brothers to one-year contracts and withdrew from the Baltic Basketball League to play in a series of exhibition games arranged by the elder Ball’s infamous company, Big Baller Brand.

If any of this interests you, ESPN’s Jeff Goodman appears to be providing updates from the game on Twitter.

Goodman recently wrote that LaVar Ball feels his son’s Lakers teammates are not excited to play for their coach, Luke Walton. Lonzo Ball and fellow rookie Kyle Kuzma refuted the report.

The Balls’ goal still appears to be reaching the NBA, but the league requires prospective players to be one year out of high school before being eligible for the NBA Draft. LiAngelo Ball was a freshman at UCLA when his father took him out of the school, shortly following the player’s involvement in a shoplifting incident in China.