9 Year Old Basketball Phenom's Mom Says She Never Wants to Be like Lavar Ball

[Smashcat]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/sp...th-only-one-childhood/?utm_term=.36221b851f38

Mundey was recently contacted by an agent offering to be Neiko’s mentor. He dangled his connection with Under Armour and stressed that he wasn’t asking for anything in return. She declined and has told multiple middle schools and high schools that she isn’t ready to talk about scholarships.

AAU teams have offered to fly Neiko to tournaments and told Mundey she wouldn’t have to pay for travel or tournament fees. Again, she said no.

Mundey did not want to use the names of those who have contacted her about Neiko, worried that they could hold it against her son in the future. The Washington Post was shown texts and emails to confirm the interactions she described.

“He’s not fully mature enough to realize that a lot of people aren’t going to be getting into his life to help him,” said Enrique Barnes, who is the biological father of Neiko’s older brother, E.J., and is referred to by Mundey as a “co-parent” for both of the boys. “Not everyone is going to do that. Some people are going to be there to help themselves. We’ll have to show him that if this stuff continues.”

 

[shaolin style]

Nobody does. The man has gotten what he wanted (attention + money through his son's efforts), but at the cost of being the biggest d-bag in sports and parenting.

 

[hotelblue]

i knew this guy was too crazy sounding to be serious. so take a step back. lavar's execution for major publicity is genius. almost any publicity is good for your "brand" in this day and age. for instance, maybe his other sons are not gifted like lonzo, but they are rated high in large part because of lonzo's play and lavar's hype. his son is a 5 star and people are watching his aau games. people who don't love social media are going to see the cockiness and the brash idiocy. but people who get it see the epic platform he's created for his sons.

people can get mad at the disinguneuos approach. as time passes though and you see the narratives he's created for his family you realize (with each new story) that he's doing things that people are going to mimick. is it sad when considering what is traditional? sure. but in the contemporary sense he is trending on something that is going to make them very very rich. and for better or worse, others i bet will follow the approach. it's a sign of the times and shows what social media can do. i don't like it in a moral sense, but he's using it to his advantage. so in the business sense he is a genius doing what he's doing.