LaVar Ball: NFL players need to stand for anthem or 'get out'
For all of LaVar Ball’s many, many flaws, nobody has ever accused him of shying away from a hot-button topic.
Whether it’s claiming he could beat Michael Jordan in a one-on-one pickup game or refusing to thank President Donald Trump for any role he may have played in the release of his son from Chinese authorities, Ball’s never met a topic he’s not willing to lend his braggadocio to.
That being said, it was still a mild surprise to see Ball wading into arguably the most polarizing sports topic in recent memory — the NFL and its national anthem protests.
TMZ Sports recently caught up with the patriarch of the Ball clan and asked him about NFL anthem protests.
Ball gave a surprisingly poignant response that belies his propensity for outlandish takes.
The TMZ reporter first explained to Ball about the new NFL anthem policy, which essentially mandates that players must stand for the national anthem if they’re present on the sidelines, while still giving them the option to stay in the locker room.
“Is that a bit like stepping over the boundaries of free speech?” TMZ asked.
“I’d have to say somewhat,” Ball first responded. When TMZ elaborated on what the new policy means for the players, Ball waffled a bit at first while noting that the NFL seemed to be sending a mixed message to them.
“Whoever at the top, you got to deal with them,” Ball eventually said. Likely referring to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the various NFL team owners, Ball actually has a salient point.
Ball went on to say that he felt like the NFL went too far with its anthem policy, but eventually reiterated that there’s a power structure players have to respect when it comes to the league.
“It’s their league,” Ball said of the NFL and its owners. “If you don’t want to do it, get out their league.”
Ball does seem to be hitting on a rather important part many anthem protest supporters are missing about players and their First Amendment rights. Those rights only apply to the government, and not a privately run business like the NFL. Goodell is not a government official, and the NFL is not beholden to any First Amendment requirements.
Ball, who is working to launch his own semi-pro basketball league, the Junior Basketball Association, made it clear who’s in charge of the upstart league for players wanting an alternative to college basketball.
“That’s why I got my own league,” Ball said. “(I can) do what I want.”
And while Ball seemed mildly sympathetic to the players who want to protest, he also made it clear that none of the players involved with his fledgling JBA would be protesting during the anthem.
“I got some youngsters, man. They going to do the anthem. They not going to be kneeling and doing all that,” Ball said of the JBA and its players.
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