LaVar Ball is more wrestling promoter and reality TV figure than he is a basketball coach at this point. Case in point, he recently received yet another technical foul during a Big Baller Brand game in Las Vegas, but this time he asked for said referee to be removed from the game.
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Adidas, which sponsored the event, was more than happy to oblige.
Ball was caught on Twitter berating a female ref who was working one of his team's games. The ref understandably threw a technical foul at Ball — which isn't out of the ordinary — but then the controversial sports personality took things into his owns hands.
Per Jeff Borzello of ESPN, Ball looked to the crowd and asked for the referee to be removed from the game, saying "we need to get someone else in here."
LaVar Ball goes CRAZY and gets another tech 😱 pic.twitter.com/MOtUS5MFD1
— Overtime (@overtime) July 28, 2017
LaVar Ball just picked up a technical. Points to the ref and looks at the crowd, "We need to get someone else in here."
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) July 28, 2017
This was the second day in a row he was given a technical and apparently the ref he asked to be kicked out of the game was involved in his Wednesday game as well.
To be fair to the referee, Ball is brash, cocky, loud and frankly, arrogant. He's not your average basketball coach — again, he's more of a professional wrestling promoter — so it's certainly not a surprise to hear that he earned himself two technicals in two consecutive days.
Is anybody surprised by that?
Ball threatened to forfeit the game and pull his team, providing the tournament with an ultimatum between The Big Baller Brand or the referee. Adidas decided to switch out the referee, a decision that they told Borzello was their own, stemming from the history of Ball and the female referee, whose name wasn't disclosed.
Adidas said it was their decision to replace the referee. Said there was a history between ref and LaVar -- she officiated Wednesday's game.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) July 28, 2017
Usually, tournaments and leagues stand by their referees and the authority given to them, so this must have been disheartening for the rest of the ref squad — to see Adidas firmly back up Ball's star power and the eyes that he naturally gets on the tournament. Sure, they said it was because of the prior history between the two parties, but if you're around long enough, every coach and referee ends up having some kind of history.
The referee who was replaced did not comment on the situation. Ball, true to his nature, did, saying, "She's got a vendetta. She needs to stay in her lane because she ain't ready for this," according to Borzello.
He also sounded off on the referees in general after the game:
LaVar Ball sounding off on the refs 😵 pic.twitter.com/SSgPVFM6ao
— Overtime (@overtime) July 28, 2017
"It's just entertainment"
That sums up LaVar Ball.
(H/T SB Nation)
