LaVar Ball thinks son LiAngelo’s arrest in China ‘not a big deal’

LaVar Ball, father of Lonzo Ball #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers, jokes with fans at halftime of a 2017 Summer League game between the Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 7, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Clippers won 96-93 in overtime.  Ethan Miller/Getty Images/AFP

UCLA freshman LiAngelo Ball hogged the headlines for all the wrong reasons on Tuesday after he was arrested along with two other teammates for allegedly shoplifting sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store in Hangzhou, China.

READ: LiAngelo Ball, UCLA teammates arrested in China for shoplifting

Netizens were quick to predict the grim consequences ahead for the 18-year-old guard, but his outspoken father, LaVar Ball, assured everyone that his middle son would be all right.

“He’ll be fine,” the Ball patriarch said, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “He’ll be fine. Everybody making it a big deal. It ain’t that big of a deal.”

LiAngelo’s older brother Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball also didn’t seem too worried about his sibling.

“No, I haven’t talked to any of them yet,” he told the news outlet. “I know they are all over there in China taking care of it, so I will talk to them when they get back.”

A follow-up report by ESPN’s Arash Markazi confirmed that Ball and teammates Cody Riley and Jalen Hill had been released on bail on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila), but is barred from leaving their hotel until the legal process pushes through.

The team is in the country to play an exhibition game against Georgia Tech in Shanghai this weekend.  Khristian Ibarrola /ra