As we all expected, 2017 is culminating in a feud between Donald Trump and Lavar Ball.
Last week, Ball's son, LiAngelo, was released from Chinese custody after being caught shoplifting in Hangzhou along with two of his UCLA teammates. The trio's release was surprisingly speedy, partly thanks to Trump personally bringing the issue up with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Afterward, Trump was quick to beg for a thank you from the players, which they provided at a press conference last Wednesday. However, Lavar Ball, a former professional athlete and the world's most outspoken father, instead decided to downplay his son's crime and the president's part in hastening his release.
When asked by ESPN on Friday about Trump's involvement, Ball responded: "Who? What was he over there for? Don't tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out."
"As long as my boy's back here, I'm fine," Ball continued. "I'm happy with how things were handled. A lot of people like to say a lot of things that they thought happened over there. Like I told him, 'They try to make a big deal out of nothing sometimes.' I'm from L.A. I've seen a lot worse things happen than a guy taking some glasses. My son has built up enough character that one bad decision doesn't define him. Now if you can go back and say when he was 12 years old he was shoplifting and stealing cars and going wild, then that's a different thing."
Trump, of course, responded to Ball's comments with the grace, magnanimity, and selflessness that he is known for.