As is typical of a marquee franchise like the Los Angeles Lakers, the media hype surrounding the team is rampant nearly every year. This season, the attention has elevated to unprecedented levels, however. The addition of Magic Johnson into the Lakers front office followed by the selection of point guard Lonzo Ball in the NBA draft has a lot of the basketball world intrigued.
Lonzo’s outspoken father LaVar Ball certainly doesn’t help the media frenzy and the Lakers are taking a step to lessen the craze. According to ESPN’s Chris Haynes, the Lakers and Staples Center are set to enforce a rule that limits players’ family members and guests from media availability:
In what many employees at Staples Center view as the “LaVar Ball rule,” this season the Los Angeles Lakers are enforcing “an existing policy” that no longer allows members of the media to congregate in a section of the arena among family and associates of players after games.
Family, friends and agents wait for players in the seats behind the basket closest to the visiting team’s locker room at the conclusion of games. Interviews conducted in that designated area and near the tunnel leading to the arena corridors are now forbidden.
It’s fitting that some call this the ‘LaVar Ball Rule’ as the CEO of Big Baller Brand always seems to have a crowd following him postgame. Ball frequently provides eyebrow-raising soundbites, making him a target to get in front of the camera after nearly each Lakers game.
Media will no longer be able to do this, in a move that should benefit the attention and overall psyche of this young, impressionable team. Thanks in no small part to Lonzo Ball and his father, the Lakers have been one of the most over-analyzed teams in the league and still remain a longshot to make the playoffs at season’s end.
