ESPN: Sources: LiAngelo Ball, 2 other UCLA players arrested in China

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"It ain't a big deal" comment makes me sick.

What these three buffoons did tarnished the reputation of UCLA, Pac-12, and USA Basketball.

They also totally disrespect the laws of the host country EVEN after their coach drilled them that they are acting as ambassadors and should act like one. They feel so entitled. They let everyone down - themselves, their families, their team, their country.

Symbolically, this is huge on many fronts and is big news internationally. They appear so entitled that they probably would have gotten ten years in prison if it wasn't for presidential interdiction.

The fact that they stole from three different stores angered the communist police and the Chinese community, they probably would be calling for the harshest punishment. China has a very harsh legal system and remember that you can go to prison by being an idiot or by trying to peddle religion. That is an absolute no-no if you get caught. And you are pretty much on your own.

Here is the advisory from the American Consulate - https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn/u-s-citizen-services/arrest-of-a-u-s-citizen/

We call ourselves a country of laws. Yet, if we condone such acts from players who are role models, what kind of message are we sending out to kids? Look around us and see what is happening everywhere? There seem to be a moral decay in our society full of entitled people.

IMHO, these guys are extremely lucky to get out of China and they should get long term suspensions or face expulsions from the university. UCLA is in a tough spot, but they should do the right thing. There is still the matter of the enormous legal bills and other costs. They should pay.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I go back and forth on this a little. I think this is one case where the fact that one of Lavar's kids is involved makes people want to be really harsh on the players because of how much they dislike him (which I totally understand because the guy is a moron).

On the flip side it was shoplifting, not some kind of assault so I think the idea that they should have to sit for the whole year like many seem to want seems overblown (of course it would be fun to see Lavar lose it, assuming he even cares about his middle kid who isn't as talented as the oldest and youngest it seems).

UCLA plays 2 weak teams before playing a couple solid teams and then returning to cupcakes for a bit leading up to the conference season. I won't be shocked to see them back in time for those early tough games but I hope they sit until the start of conference play at a minimum. They deserve to be punished for what they did but they shouldn't have their lives destroyed over some sunglasses and a case of stupidity.
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It's more than just shoplifting because of where it happened and everything else that went with it. I'm not sure what the punishment should be but it is a much bigger deal than if they stole something in the US IMO.
 

GophersInIowa said:
It's more than just shoplifting because of where it happened and everything else that went with it. I'm not sure what the punishment should be but it is a much bigger deal than if they stole something in the US IMO.
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It is definitely a tricky one because I do agree that where they committed the crime is a far bigger issue then the crime itself. I mean they literally caused an international incident that ended up involving the president.

In addition to hopefully sitting for a while I sincerely hope all 3 are required to preform a lot of community service at the very least. I just see a number of people calling for them to be expelled or kicked off the team and that feels extreme to me. That said, I hadn't followed the details real close and it sounds like they did their shoplifting at multiple locations which definitely ups the scope some. Of course the truly stupid part in all this is that Ball for sure and I am guessing the others at well could all afford to pay for the items they stole which certainly says a lot about their character.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I go back and forth on this a little. I think this is one case where the fact that one of Lavar's kids is involved makes people want to be really harsh on the players because of how much they dislike him (which I totally understand because the guy is a moron).

On the flip side it was shoplifting, not some kind of assault so I think the idea that they should have to sit for the whole year like many seem to want seems overblown (of course it would be fun to see Lavar lose it, assuming he even cares about his middle kid who isn't as talented as the oldest and youngest it seems).

UCLA plays 2 weak teams before playing a couple solid teams and then returning to cupcakes for a bit leading up to the conference season. I won't be shocked to see them back in time for those early tough games but I hope they sit until the start of conference play at a minimum. They deserve to be punished for what they did but they shouldn't have their lives destroyed over some sunglasses and a case of stupidity.
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I go back and forth a little as to the proper punishment as well, but I don't agree with your last point. I mean I agree they shouldn't have their lives destroyed over it, but to me this is more than just a pair of sunglasses and stupidity. It's confirmed they stole from three different stores. And while some may not like Greenberg saying that they have probably done this before I think he is probably correct. Someone doesn't just up and decide to steal from three different stores on a trip to a foreign country having never done that before.

One other point I'd make is that I think it is better for the team (and the players involved) if they don't just call it an indefinite suspension. Indefinite means it could end at any time, so after every game the media will be asking if these players are going to play in the next one. Just come out now and say they are suspended for X number of games to avoid the constant speculation on when they will be allowed to play again. There will be more attention given to this whenever they are allowed to play again (as Bruins or elsewhere), but the best move for the program to avoid having this constant cloud over this season is to be definitive as to how long the suspensions will be. And I realize that they might need a week to gather all necessary info and have administrators/coaches agree on a punishment, so it can be indefinite for the short term. Can even say that they have to meet certain requirements as part of their return, but saying "indefinite" only warrants more speculation and doesn't help anyone involved.
 

hungan1 said:
"It ain't a big deal" comment makes me sick.
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I think that comment was more Lavar trying to downplay the possibility of jail time and the significance of the incident, not necessarily an attempt to excuse the actions of his son. I think he was just trying to calm everyone's nerves. I'm sure he gave Liangelo quite an earful when they got back.
 


bizzle22 said:
I go back and forth a little as to the proper punishment as well, but I don't agree with your last point. I mean I agree they shouldn't have their lives destroyed over it, but to me this is more than just a pair of sunglasses and stupidity. It's confirmed they stole from three different stores. And while some may not like Greenberg saying that they have probably done this before I think he is probably correct. Someone doesn't just up and decide to steal from three different stores on a trip to a foreign country having never done that before.

One other point I'd make is that I think it is better for the team (and the players involved) if they don't just call it an indefinite suspension. Indefinite means it could end at any time, so after every game the media will be asking if these players are going to play in the next one. Just come out now and say they are suspended for X number of games to avoid the constant speculation on when they will be allowed to play again. There will be more attention given to this whenever they are allowed to play again (as Bruins or elsewhere), but the best move for the program to avoid having this constant cloud over this season is to be definitive as to how long the suspensions will be. And I realize that they might need a week to gather all necessary info and have administrators/coaches agree on a punishment, so it can be indefinite for the short term. Can even say that they have to meet certain requirements as part of their return, but saying "indefinite" only warrants more speculation and doesn't help anyone involved.
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Making it indefinite makes it easier to bring them back if the team is struggling just like Coach K did with Tripper McTripperson.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Making it indefinite makes it easier to bring them back if the team is struggling just like Coach K did with Tripper McTripperson.
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Which US president had to get involved to get ol' Trippy out of trouble? I don't even think the situations are comparable. Off-court vs on-court. Legal charges vs flagrant foul. International relations incident vs basketball game incident. Trippy needed a kick in the rear and an attitude adjustment. These guys need a lot more than that. Plus, if Lavin says how long the suspension is right now he won't have to deal with anyone accusing him of only bringing them back when it was convenient for him.
 

bizzle22 said:
Which US president had to get involved to get ol' Trippy out of trouble? I don't even think the situations are comparable. Off-court vs on-court. Legal charges vs flagrant foul. International relations incident vs basketball game incident. Trippy needed a kick in the rear and an attitude adjustment. These guys need a lot more than that. Plus, if Lavin says how long the suspension is right now he won't have to deal with anyone accusing him of only bringing them back when it was convenient for him.
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I'm not agreeing with the "indefinite" wording. I'm just saying why I think a lot of coaches do it that way. Then they can bring them back whenever they want.
 

bizzle22 said:
Which US president had to get involved to get ol' Trippy out of trouble? I don't even think the situations are comparable. Off-court vs on-court. Legal charges vs flagrant foul. International relations incident vs basketball game incident. Trippy needed a kick in the rear and an attitude adjustment. These guys need a lot more than that. Plus, if Lavin says how long the suspension is right now he won't have to deal with anyone accusing him of only bringing them back when it was convenient for him.
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Lavin has worked for ESPN for years. I think you mean Alford?
 



GophersInIowa said:
I'm not agreeing with the "indefinite" wording. I'm just saying why I think a lot of coaches do it that way. Then they can bring them back whenever they want.
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The most recent story on ESPN says that UCLA officials are debating between suspending them for half the season or the whole season. It also says that if they do choose the full season, they'd expect that 1 or 2 of them may transfer.
 


The question is who will hand out the suspensions? UCLA, UCLA & Pac-12, or should the NCAA get involve and say you have to sit out a period of time and they are not allowed to play NCAA basketball anywhere in that time frame.

Maybe they can go back to China and play in their semi-pro league for a year. :cool02:

If it were regular students who are caught cheating, stealing, or lying about both you can bet they face an expulsion. These super star basketball players get the cavalier treatment, but regular students will probably get the shaft.

I have no sympathy for these guys.
 

hungan1 said:
The question is who will hand out the suspensions? UCLA, UCLA & Pac-12, or should the NCAA get involve and say you have to sit out a period of time and they are not allowed to play NCAA basketball anywhere in that time frame.

Maybe they can go back to China and play in their semi-pro league for a year. :cool02:

If it were regular students who are caught cheating, stealing, or lying about both you can bet they face an expulsion. These super star basketball players get the cavalier treatment, but regular students will probably get the shaft.

I have no sympathy for these guys.
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As much as I dislike the Balls, I'm gonna disagree with you here. Not one normal student (outside of maybe BYU or Liberty) would be kicked out of school for shoplifting. I know many students who got DUIs (far more serious crime) or even busted for possessing/selling drugs, who never missed a beat with school. This will be a UCLA decision on the suspensions, not the PAC12 or NCAA.
 



Wait... they had 90 minutes. 90 minutes of unsupervised time and they decide shoplifting from three separate stores is how they will spend said 90 minutes of free time?! College kids ARE becoming less intelligent and more immature every year.
 


die hard gopher said:
Who?" LaVar Ball told ESPN on Friday, when asked about Trump's involvement in the matter. "What was he over there for? Don't tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out."

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...donald-trump-role-liangelo-ball-release-china




I've always thought a Lavar vs Trump twitter fight would be golden. Looks like we finally got it. So similar.
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If there was a Mount Rushmore for being full of sh*t, these two would be the first ones carved. No doubt.
 



WriterGoph said:
If there was a Mount Rushmore for being full of sh*t, these two would be the first ones carved. No doubt.
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Please toss in Kim Jung Oon and Dennis Rodman, and you'll have your foursome.

It is sad all the Pac 12 promo in China boiled down to a comedy of errors involving Louis Vuitton sunglasses requiring a Presidential interdiction. How crazy does that sound?
 

Trump shouldn’t have intervened, but he basically had to since he happened to be in China at the time. How lucky is that for those dumb players?

Frankly I would’ve loved watching the updates over several years of Lavarr Ball trying to get his kid out of Chinese prison.
 

I had an uncle who spent seven years in an Asian prison in the early 70s. If you are sentenced seven years, you serve seven years.

It was no picnic, hard labor, a code of silence in jail, no TV, radio, or human contacts allowed with the outside world. Prisoners get beaten often with bamboo sticks by the guards.

He swore off his gambling, drinking, and womanizing ways after prison. He never touched a drop and became a devout Christian.

So, maybe had those three kids had the opportunity to spent time in jail they get reformed in a hurry.
 

Worst thing is you could go to almost any street corner and buy "Authentic" Louis V rip offs for about 3 bucks American from a street vendor.
 

ncgo4 said:
Worst thing is you could go to almost any street corner and buy "Authentic" Louis V rip offs for about 3 bucks American from a street vendor.
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Thanks for the amazing insight. :mad::cool02::clap:
 

President Trump reportedly had less impact than he claimed on the release of three UCLA basketball players detained in China last year, according to a new report Friday.

LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley were arrested and detained on shoplifting charges in November while in China for a game.

Trump took credit for intervening and negotiating the players’ release, but a new report from ESPN finds that the charges had been dropped and the players’ passports returned two days before the White House told them it was involved.

A source told ESPN that the players' return flights were already secured by the time White House chief of staff John Kelly called to tell the players that the White House was getting involved.

It is not clear whether Trump intervened before his chief of staff informed the players.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-brief...om-china-was-already-secured-before-trump-got
 

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