LaVar Ball was an ocean away from the Grammys on Sunday, but that didn't stop the Big Baller Brand CEO-turned-pro coach for a day in Lithuania from invoking one of the award show's most infamous frauds to blast Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. In an explosive interview with BasketNews' Jonas Miklovas following Vytautas' 151-130 win over Jonavos Jonava in the finale of the Big Baller Brand Challenge Games on Sunday, the Ballfather lambasted Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton's former boss, who has derided LaVar as "the Kardashian of the NBA," in explaining how easy coaching can be.
"He's the Milli Vanilli of coaching," the Big Baller said. "What I mean is, you can go stand in the same spot like Luke Walton did and win 20-something games when you've got the right horses just running. Sometimes less coaching is the best coaching, but some of these guys like to act like they've really coached some guys that know how to play.
"How do you coach KD [Kevin Durant], Steph Curry, Draymond Green And Klay Thompson? You know how you coach them? You don't. Turn your back and let them do what they do."
LaVar went on to criticize Kerr for what he saw as the coach looking to "jump up and try to take all the credit" for the work former Warriors coach Mark Jackson put in immediately before Golden State's historic championship era began.
"That's why I call him the Milli Vanilli of coaching, because he's not MJ," LaVar said, "not Michael Jackson but Mark Jackson."
In truth, Kerr wouldn't likely argue with the Ballfather's contention that having great players has made his job easy. Time and again, he's taken a deprecating tack toward his role with the Warriors, crediting his star-studded roster for making him look smart.
Where Kerr might take umbrage-if he opts to acknowledge the questions that are sure to come from the media surrounding Golden State-is with LaVar's contention that he's tried to claim Jackson's work as his own. Here, too, Kerr has often credited his predecessor for turning around what had been a moribund culture in Oakland by instilling in his players the importance of team defense and rebounding.
Nonetheless, the Big Baller's latest bout of bluster is bound to spark another firestorm of controversy stateside, an ocean away from where he's currently stationed. And though LaVar's first pro win came in an exhibition that won't count in the Lithuanian (LKL) League standings, he won't have to give it back, unlike Milli Vanilli.
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