LaVar Ball Responds To Trump’s Tweet About Son LiAngelo: ‘He Didn’t Call Me’

As if Donald Trump hadn’t picked sufficient fights with athletes, he has now become embroiled in a beef with LaVar Ball.

LaVar Ball vs. Trump feud news

The President took to Twitter on Sunday to express anger over the ungratefulness of the Big Baller Brand founder and CEO, whose son LiAngelo landed himself in hot water earlier this month after he and two of his UCLA basketball teammates were caught shoplifting sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store in China.

Trump, who happened to be visiting the Asian country as part of a multi-nation trip, reportedly met with President Xi Jinping to order the three players’ release from jail. However, Trump claims Ball never thanked him for helping LiAngelo, and implied he regretted his interference.

“Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!”

Ball — himself a former college basketball and professional football player — went on CNN on Monday night to discuss the situation with Chris Cuomo. 

Ball refused to thank Trump for setting his son free, saying he should stick to his own affairs. He also said he would rather thank Jinping for the action.

“He didn’t even know they were over there,” Ball said of Trump. “What was he even over there for in the first place? … What I’m trying to say is, it’s not like he was in the US and said, ‘There’s three kids in China — I need to go over there and get ’em.’ That wasn’t the thought process.”

Ball continued: “I don’t have to go around saying ‘thank you’ to everybody,” Ball said. “He didn’t call me. I didn’t shake his hand. He didn’t have to say nothin’, but I’m just sayin’. I have to know what somebody is doing before I say ‘thank you.’ I’m not just going to go around saying ‘thank you.'”

“As far as me, let me deal with my son,” he added. “Let’s just stay in our lane.”

Ball did take the time to wish Trump a Happy Thanksgiving, however.

Ball is known for being an outspoken man, having made several appearances on WWE, and making outlandish claims that he could beat Michael Jordan in a one-on-one basketball game when he only averaged 2 points per game in college. He also took aim at LeBron James and his children. LaVar and his three sons — LiAngelo, Lakers rookie Lonzo and high-schooler LaMelo — star in a Facebook reality series named “Ball in the Family.”

NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 22: LaVar Ball, father of Lonzo Ball, looks on during the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 22, 2017 in New York City.