Peak 2017 hit Monday night when LaVar Ball appeared live on CNN to address his remarks downplaying President Donald Trump's involvement in his son's release from house arrest in China following shoplifting accusations.
Beginning by saying "never in my wildest dreams" did he imagine he'd be on television discussing geopolitics, Ball continued to refuse to thank Trump for any diplomatic maneuvering that saw UCLA basketball players LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill, and Cody Riley return to the U.S. last week.
"Did he help the boys get out? I don't know," Ball told CNN's Chris Cuomo. "Maybe we was doing some talking with some other people before you even got there."
While the three players publicly thanked the president upon their arrival in California, LaVar dismissed the idea he had anything to do with it. That naturally prompted a tweet from Trump, saying he should have left the teenagers in a Chinese prison.
Ball took issue with that statement.
"He tweeted because he's mad at me, 'shoulda left they ass in jail'," he said. "First off, they weren't in jail, they were in a hotel."
When Cuomo suggested Trump may deserve some credit for seeing the players released, Ball was incredulous.
"If he paid for the money to put up whatever we needed to do, then I would say thank you," he said. "Did you thank the doctor for bringing you into this world?"
While the interview was somewhat farcical and perfectly tailored to Ball's media strategy, the hoops dad did bring up a valid point.
"Why are we even talking about this with all the political matters going on in the world?" he asked.
However, he did offer one parting slice of goodwill to the leader of the free world.
"Tell Donald Trump to have a great Thanksgiving, because Big Baller is (going to)."
