LaVar Ball says sons ‘kept me rolling' amid health issues, leg amputation
LaVar Ball, the outspoken father of NBA stars Lonzo and LaMelo Ball and rapper LiAngelo, recently opened up about the health issues that led to a portion of his leg being amputated to SLAM magazine.
Ball said in the self-authored piece that an infection due to complications from diabetes led to him being hospitalized for over a month. Doctors performed three separate amputations on his right leg, starting with several toes, then his foot, before a final surgery to amputate just below the knee. Ball said he also required blood transfusions on four different occasions.
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Ball said he questioned 'whether it was worth going through it sometimes' but said that his children were there for support.
'I'm the Big Baller. I'm hard to kill,' Ball wrote. 'But I must admit that my boys kept me rolling. Cause a couple of times, I was like, I can't do no more blood transfusions. I can't do no more operations. I'm just ready to shut it down. It's enough for me. But I'm here for a bigger purpose.'
LaMelo, LaVar's youngest son, is averaging a career-high 25.4 points per game with the Charlotte Hornets, while Lonzo, the oldest brother, returned to the floor with the Chicago Bulls this year after missing two full seasons with injuries.
LiAngelo, who played in the G-League and internationally from 2018 to 2024, began releasing music in January. His first single 'Tweaker' went viral and led to him performing at NBA All-Star Weekend in February. In January, LiAngelo signed a record deal with Def Jam Recordings worth up to $13 million, per ESPN.
Their father wrote that seeing the success of his children, along with the health struggles he's seen other people his age deal with, has helped keep him grounded and give him perspective. With his health in order, LaVar said he's looking to use his platform to encourage others to learn from him.
'The doctors said, Big Baller, you were very close to having to shut it down. But they were quick enough to give me the blood transfusions and keep that poison from going throughout my body,' LaVar wrote. 'So, now I'm telling folks, if you got diabetes, don't just be like, Oh, that's just diabetes. I still eat my sugar, but I pay attention to it and do it in moderation. Get your checkups, do what you're supposed to do. If you don't have insurance, go to urgent care. Because I'm going to tell you this, a little amputation and a little of this, it could all have been prevented.
'And I look at it like this, too: I got a lot of limbs to come off. I'm hard to kill. I got some bigger stuff that the Big Baller still gotta do.'
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