The First Episode Of "Ball In The Family" Came Out Yesterday And It Was Actually Good
via the Ball In The Family Facebook page
Okay I’ll admit I’m a LaVar Ball stan. I love him because he’s ridiculous. I love him because he pisses everyone off. I love him because he is living the American Dream in 2017. And I love him because he’s the most electric personality in sports entertainment since The Rock was dropping People’s Elbows on candy asses in the squared circle. But all biases aside, I truly believe that was a fun 18 minutes of internet TV. At the very least, a better than bad way to burn some minutes off your Friday in the cubes. If we didn’t just have a full year worth of people arguing about whether they liked LaVar or not, people would say that was a genuinely entertaining and honest glimpse behind the scenes of a family that should be in the middle of some pretty exciting things over the next few years. Sure they edit the shit out of all reality shows these days, but this one didn’t seem forced like some Kardashians bullshit. I guess the producers had months worth of footage to go through which helped. And the bright graphics and big words made everything easier for me to process. But this episode had everything I wanted.
We had LaVar doing LaVar things.
Grandpappy Ball making his presence known early in the pilot.
I loved Papa Ball before I saw him on the show. But now that I know his nickname is Yank, I am all in on him. Give me every piece of Yank stock that is still available after this show went live yesterday.
And how about Ol’ Yank telling the story of how LaVar never drank or smoked or anything when growing up in South Central LA? LaVar after a few Hennys would probably be crazy as fuck. Which leads me to my sneaky favorite part of the show: LaVar drinking things. I feel like we need at least one per episode as some sort of weird inside joke, kinda like Brad Pitt always eating in Ocean’s Eleven.
Even Mrs. Ball’s parents have a role and admitted to what could have been some light to moderate racism back when their daughter started dating LaVar.
Notice they are in Big Baller Brand gear though. I imagine a guy like LaVar dating your daughter must be interesting considering all the hoopla his words have caused the last few months. But still, he seemed to win them over big time just like he is winning over thousands of Americans every day.
Speaking of love, we got a little bit more of a glimpse into Lonzo’s relationship with his girlfriend Denise, who definitely has a bit of a Meadow Soprano vibe to her.
We also got some foreshadowing for Season 3 when her and Lonzo inevitably break up due to what will probably be known as The Miami Incident or something. Us here in the TV writing game call that Chekhov’s gun.
Leading to her getting together with young LaMelo right before he heads to UCLA. Tale as old as time.
And despite what the thumbnail for the episode would lead you to believe.
Liangelo Ball is not only a real member of the family but he has a nickname too!
LaVar calling Liangelo the model of the family as well as the college man for now. That reeks of a dad that knows his son may be a 4-year player at UCLA and “turn down” the NBA to attempt to become a model or actor or something. Start planting the seeds in the audience’s mind now.
Call me crazy, but I see a Security Squad spinoff in our future if Ball In The Family is successful. And you know what? I’m already in on THAT show too.
Maybe we’ll even get a few cameos from LaVar for some cross promotion. I mean how can you watch this video and not like the guy?
The Knicks fan in me got excited when I saw John Starks on screen. Then I realized Lonzo probably didn’t give a shit about meeting the guy that is best known for going 2-for-18 in Game 7 of The Finals and especially didn’t care once Starks asked how his defense was. Be cool for me one time, Johnny. Even ex-Knicks can’t buy a bucket these days.
Then obviously everything ends with Lonzo getting drafted by the Lakeshow, as LaVar spoke into existence for years. Which brings me to my next point. Obviously seeing how Mrs. Ball suffered the stroke was sad. But you got to see a different side of LaVar. When he talks about how that’s his girl and he got her, it actually got me fired up.
I imagine having a guy like LaVar in your life could be a pain in the ass sometimes. But when you are fighting, you know that guy is riding with you at all times. Even seeing her watch the draft on the couch, I felt for her in the sense that she couldn’t be there to see all that hard work pay off in person. But at the same time it was mission accomplished. Or at least Mission 1 of 3 accomplished. Can’t wait for episode 2.
Episode 1 Grade: A
MVP (Other than LaVar): Yank Ball for reasons already discussed.
LVP: Maria Ball. I want to hear her stories of what it was like being the Mama Bear to LaVar Ball. Gonna be hard to sneak a word in when the camera is anywhere near Yank though.
Random Thoughts: I neeeeeeed Magic Johnson to become a real character and presence on this show. And while I was never the biggest Nas fan in the world, the line about nobody listening to Nas anymore hurt my soul.