LaMelo Ball: The Most Famous Mystery in Basketball

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2020

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Tonight, the NBA holds its draft lottery, when the hopes and dreams of 14 franchises hinge on a set of bouncing ping-pong balls that will decide their fate. And while we don't know which team will be picking first...many suspect the first player selected will be 18-year-old LaMelo Ball. LaMelo, his older brothers Lonzo and LiAngelo, and their father LaVar Ball, have become basketball's most famous...some would say most infamous...family. They have millions of followers on social media and their own reality show, "Ball in the Family." But somehow, LaMelo has remained something of an enigma for hoop fans, largely because he's spent the past several years playing in Lithuania and Australia, instead of committing to a big time college program. In January, ESPN's Tim Keown spent time with Ball in Australia, and shares his up-close reporting on Ball as a person and as a player. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm trying to be the number one pick for the 2020 draft, so I started playing since I was three.
0:06.0	So it's just my dream, man.
0:08.0	And then that's everybody's goal to be number one pick playing the NBA.
0:16.0	Tonight, the hopes and dreams of 14 NBA franchises will hinge on a set of bouncing ping-pong
0:22.3	balls that will decide their fate.
0:25.5	The player who many think is the ultimate prize?
0:28.6	An 18-year-old kid who has been in the public eye for years, and yet somehow has remained
0:34.2	largely unknown.
0:36.7	Today, ESPN senior writer Tim Kewen brings us an up-close look at La Mello Ball and tells
0:42.8	us whether the youngest ball brother can ever live up to the hype that comes with being
0:47.1	part of basketball's most famous or infamous family.
0:52.2	I'm Pablo Torre.
0:53.8	It's Thursday, August 20th. This is ESPN Daily.
1:01.5	Tim, thank you so much for joining me, man. I appreciate it. Hey, I'm glad to be here, Pablo. Thank you.
1:06.6	So I wanted to have you on today because tonight is the NBA draft lottery when we find out
1:12.0	which team maybe Golden State, maybe Cleveland, maybe Minnesota gets the number one overall
1:17.4	pick. And I have to admit something to you first off. When LeVar Ball went on first take in
1:23.6	June of last year to declare that his youngest son, Lamello, would be the number one overall pick?
1:29.9	Mello is going to be number one pick in 2020.
1:34.3	Because he's that good.
1:35.3	He's that good.
1:36.4	I guarantee you, dude, that dude, that dude.
	...

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