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Who’s Big Baller Brand’s controversial CEO LaVar Ball? The father of NBA stars Lonzo of Chicago Bulls and LaMelo of Charlotte Hornets, plus rapper LiAngelo, recently had a leg amputation

STORYIshani Sarkar
LaVar Ball is opening up about the diabetes complication that led to his leg being amputated. Photo: @lavar/Instagram
LaVar Ball is opening up about the diabetes complication that led to his leg being amputated. Photo: @lavar/Instagram
Fame and celebrity

The LA entrepreneur suffered from a foot infection due to diabetes that escalated into leg amputation in January – his wife Tina was also a basketball player, and the pair met at Cal State

Athletic apparel company Big Baller Brand “BBB” CEO and Ball in the Family star LaVar Ball, father of Chicago Bulls’ Lonzo Ball, Charlotte Hornets’ LaMelo Ball, and rapper LiAngelo, recently had his leg amputated.

In an interview with Slam, the 57-year-old businessman revealed that a foot infection turned into a dangerous affliction when it reached his bloodstream because he hadn’t taken his diabetes seriously.

 
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“First, they cut off a couple of toes. Then they cut off my foot. Then they said, We gotta go almost knee high for another surgery,” he recalled, before admitting that the procedures, paired with multiple blood transfusions, took a toll on his mental health. “It made me think, ‘Man, just kill me and let me go about my business.’” However, his sons “kept [him] rolling” and now, he’s advocating for diabetes awareness.
Ball once said on ESPN’s First Take that he could go head-to-head with NBA legend Michael Jordan and beat him – and declared his son Lonzo a better player than four-time NBA champion Steph Curry, but he refused to thank Donald Trump for helping bail LiAngelo out when he got caught shoplifting in China in 2017, per Forbes.

So what do we know about the controversial LA entrepreneur?

What’s his background?

LaVar Ball addresses a press conference in Prienai, Lithuania, ahead of his sons LaMelo Ball and LiAngelo Ball playing for the Vytautas club, in 2018. Photo: AFP Photo
LaVar Ball addresses a press conference in Prienai, Lithuania, ahead of his sons LaMelo Ball and LiAngelo Ball playing for the Vytautas club, in 2018. Photo: AFP Photo

Ball grew up in South Los Angeles with four brothers – LaFrance, LaValle, LaRenzo and LaShon, according to an interview he did with MaxPreps. He attended Canoga Park High School and majored in criminal justice at university, aspiring to be a US Marshall, according to ESPN.