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

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per ESPN:

Three UCLA men's basketball players -- including LiAngelo Ball, the younger brother of the Los Angeles Lakers' Lonzo Ball -- were arrested in China just days before Friday's season-opening game against Georgia Tech in Shanghai, sources told ESPN's Jeff Goodman.

One source told ESPN the players -- which also included freshmen Cody Riley and Jalen Hill -- were arrested on shoplifting charges.

The players are being questioned about stealing from a Louis Vuitton store.

A source tells ESPN the players are not currently with the team.

Multiple calls and texts to UCLA head coach Steve Alford at approximately 1 a.m. local time on Wednesday morning were not immediately returned.

UCLA released a statement: "We are aware of a situation involving UCLA student-athletes in Hangzhou, China. The University is cooperating fully with local authorities on this matter, and we have no further comment at this time."

One source told ESPN that nearly 20 police officers came into the Hyatt Hangzhou at approximately 8 a.m. local time Tuesday and spoke to multiple players from both Georgia Tech and UCLA. The players, according to the source, were kept in a room for hours and not allowed to speak to any of the coaches.

"They weren't messing around," the source told ESPN. "The kids were scared."

The Georgia Tech players were allowed to leave the room hours later, and the UCLA players were seen getting into a police vehicle around 1 p.m. local time, according to the source.

Georgia Tech released a statement to ESPN Tuesday, saying that three of their players were questioned by local authorities at their hotel.

"During the questioning, it was determined that Georgia Tech student-athletes were not involved in the activities being investigated," Georgia Tech said in the statement. "They have resumed their scheduled activities in advance of Saturday's season opener versus UCLA in Shanghai."

The teams are scheduled to visit Shanghai Disney Resort on Wednesday.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...y-riley-jalen-hill-arrested-china-shoplifting

Go Gophers!!
 


I should probably be sympathetic and feel sorry for these kids but I just don't.
 

Ahhh, what a stupid take this is from a reporter at CBS Sports:

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Go Gophers!!
 

Ahh yes, the simple minded take that money fixes character in the same vein as terrorism can be fixed with jobs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


The first rule of international travel is don't mess with laws or law enforcement in a foreign country. As far as I know, stealing is illegal in every country. Will be very interesting to see how Alford and UCLA handle this. It may not have even made the news if it happened in LA.
 

BleedGopher said:
Ahhh, what a stupid take this is from a reporter at CBS Sports:

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Go Gophers!!
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Wow, yes that is a naive take. Some people are just thieves, regardless of how much money they have.

Of course we don't know for sure yet if these kids are guilty, but if they are then they are complete fools. I suspect that they don't even know what rights they have or what the punishment is for shoplifting in China. The police and prosecutors don't have to follow the same laws that ours do. I wonder if the "Louis Vuitton" goods were even authentic? The country is awash in counterfeit products.
 

Please let Lavar Ball go over there and try to resolve. Please, please, please......
 

Well they don't take to kindly to thieves in that part of the world. These kids are morons
 



BleedGopher said:
Ahhh, what a stupid take this is from a reporter at CBS Sports:

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Go Gophers!!
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Yeah, because handing these kids boatloads of cash would result in total restraint on their part. Clearly, people aren't capable of behaving reasonably and within the law without receiving a "fair share" of an organizations profits. There's nobody else out there making 40-50k per year, or less, to bust their rear for a guy/gal making billions.

This guy is a first class moron. Im guessing that over-privileged, self-loathing, tiny pink-handed, skinny-jean wearing suburbanite has never actually spent a day in the real world.
 

His punishment should be to have to stay there and work in a factory making Big Baller Brand shoes for a year.
 


Sending 20 cops to investigate shoplifting? Sounds fishy. Not to mention multiple kids shopllfting in a foreign country when they're already highly visible? Sounds unlikely to me.
 



GophersInIowa said:
His punishment should be to have to stay there and work in a factory making Big Baller Brand shoes for a year.
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giphy.gif
 

SKOOKM said:
Wow, yes that is a naive take. Some people are just thieves, regardless of how much money they have.

Of course we don't know for sure yet if these kids are guilty, but if they are then they are complete fools. I suspect that they don't even know what rights they have or what the punishment is for shoplifting in China. The police and prosecutors don't have to follow the same laws that ours do. I wonder if the "Louis Vuitton" goods were even authentic? The country is awash in counterfeit products.
Click to expand...

Don't mess around in other parts of the world where punishment is severe with no paroling for good behavior. If you are sentenced to seven years in prison with hard labor, that is what you get. Taking drugs into Singapore (and China) no matter how small an amount is a capital crime punishable by death the penalty.

Look at what happened to that American student who stole a Communist Party banner at a hotel in North Korea. He was sentenced to hard labor, but became comatose from prison beating and eventually was released home and died eventually.

There you go: Possible 3-10 years in prison in China if convicted. They have surveillance cameras everywhere in China run by the communist party apparatus. You are guilty until proven innocent. They will be extremely lucky if they are let go for PR purposes.

Absolutely bonehead move by any team going to other countries to not advise players of legal consequences. Understand that you are going to a communist country. You are not protected by U.S. laws.
https://sports.yahoo.com/liangelo-ball-ucla-teammates-face-3-10-years-prison-convicted-shoplifting-013958780.html

Off-topic here, but worth commenting:

We've turned a blind eye to communism in "The Pacific Century". We've turned a blind eye towards communism for the sake of profit and the lost of U.S. jobs to cheap sources of labor.

It is okay for China to steal our intellectual property and patents. Just don't steal from their country.
 

I have lived in Beijing for a little over a year now; the first lesson learned and reinforced constantly is don’t run afoul of the law and there are cameras EVERYWHERE. These guys could be spending significant time in jail. If they did this, incredibly bad decision making on their part.
 

Man, China is one of the last places I'd want to get arrested. This is some scary ****.
 


MadtownGopher said:
Man, China is one of the last places I'd want to get arrested. This is some scary ****.
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If I were these kids and their parents I'd be freaking out. Law enforcement in other countries typically have a huge distain for a damn yankee coming into their country and breaking a laws.

I just recalled this story: Teen-Ager Caned in Singapore Tells of the Blood and the Scars, June 1994

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/27/u...ngapore-tells-of-the-blood-and-the-scars.html
 

I hear that Lavar Ball has arranged for Trump to personally visit China to get this all cleared up. Ya, that little dictator in North Korea along with trade negotiations are also on the agenda...
 


oleboy41 said:
Sending 20 cops to investigate shoplifting? Sounds fishy. Not to mention multiple kids shopllfting in a foreign country when they're already highly visible? Sounds unlikely to me.
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Well, this is a communist country with 1.38 billion people, the most populous country in the world with a civilization that dates back over 4,000 years. You are dealing with a communist country with distrust of the outside world and whose people have a high sense of ethno-centricity.

They don't tolerate bad behaviors really well. They have a great disdain for misbehaving foreigners. Twenty cops to investigate an incident involving foreigners, US citizens in particular is nothing out of the ordinary. They are cognizant of international implications of this case.

If I were these kids, they better cooperate and hope and pray that by not being viewed as antagonistic to the Chinese court that they will get a lighter sentence.
 

watertown 1987 guy n said:
If I were these kids and their parents I'd be freaking out. Law enforcement in other countries typically have a huge distain for a damn yankee coming into their country and breaking a laws.

I just recalled this story: Teen-Ager Caned in Singapore Tells of the Blood and the Scars, June 1994

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/27/u...ngapore-tells-of-the-blood-and-the-scars.html
Click to expand...

A former boss with teen and preteen kids accepted a promotion in Singapore where the entire family moved to. In less than a year, they returned to the US. The older of the teenage sons was caned for spitting chewing gum in public and lying about it. Not only were there lasting physical scars, the kid was emotionally traumatized.
 




Memo to Mr. Alford. A pre-trip showing of "Midnight Express" may have been helpful.
 

Nomellini said:
Memo to Mr. Alford. A pre-trip showing of "Midnight Express" may have been helpful.
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I've been to China, but I never thought about breaking the law while I was there. I've never wanted to go to Turkey because of that movie. Scariest movie I have ever seen.
 

Nomellini said:
Memo to Mr. Alford. A pre-trip showing of "Midnight Express" may have been helpful.
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Or that terrible situation that ended up happening when the kid stole a poster from his hotel in North Korea. Ya simply gotta follow the rules, you're on their turf.
 

Updated stats:

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