LaVar Ball: 'If you want to be a pro athlete, you don't need to spend 50% of your time in class'

Yahoo Sports ^ | July 20, 2018 | Ryan Young

[EveningStar]

Full title: LaVar Ball: 'If you want to be a professional athlete, you don't need to spend 50 percent of your time in class'

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LaVar Ball’s Junior Basketball Association has officially kicked off, and he’s out promoting it constantly.

Now, the idea behind his league is solid. It provides his sons, LiAngelo and LaMelo — and countless others — an opportunity to play competitive basketball outside of the NCAA while they make a push to play professionally. It also offers athletes a chance to make money while doing it.

Except in a recent interview with SBNation’s Ricky O’Donnell, LaVar gave a weird piece of advice: One doesn’t need an education if they want to be a professional athlete.

“If you want to be a professional athlete, you don’t need to spend 50 percent of your time in class, which you’re not gonna use anyway, and 50 percent trying to play ball,” LaVar told SBNation. “Now you can be 100 percent in. If you really that guy, this is the way to go. If you’re only going be in college for a semester anyway, if you really that guy.”

[jjotto]

Even at the D1 level, only a few percent of players go pro.

[dfwgator]

I like Shaq too, but I’m afraid a guy that tall and that fat, won’t be around much longer.