Youngest Ball brother, LaMelo, sparks brawl during father’s Lithuania tour match
Youngest ball brother sparks brawl during European tour match organised by his father LaVar
LaMelo Ball, the youngest of three basketball-playing brothers led by Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball, sparked a brawl and was ejected from a game in Lithuania on Monday.
LaMelo Ball, who with his older brother, LiAngelo Ball, played for a team in Lithuania last year, was there again playing on a touring team of US players in the Junior Basketball Association, the entity started by the Balls’ father, LaVar Ball.
The fracas erupted about midway through the third quarter after Ball tried to drive to the basket against Mindaugas Susinskas of Lithuanian club Dzukija. As seen on a video of the play, the ball went out of bounds under the basket, and as Susinskas was returning to the court, he gave Ball a light tap on the back of his head.
Ball, 17, then turned to face Susinskas and hit him in the face, leading to pushing and shoving. Ball and Susinskas were ejected.
The US team led 69-54 at the time but lost the game 124-116.