Total Tweets About LaVar
0
LaVar's initial outlandish comments do little to move the needle.
Nov. 24, 2016
Jan. 26, 2017
"I've told them this since Day 1, since they've been babies: 'Somebody's gotta be better than Jordan, why not you?'"
LaVar to TMZ Sports
LaMelo, the youngest of the Ball brothers, scores 92 points on 61 shots for Chino Hills in a high school game.
Feb. 7
Feb. 8
"You know, the kid was waiting at half court most of the game. Never went back on defense. So I had a problem with it, to be honest with you."
Charles Barkley on Mike & Mike
A February 2017 New York Times profile on the Ball brothers makes just a passing reference to LaVar.
Feb. 15
Feb. 18
"Here, put Steph Curry on UCLA's team right now and put my boy on Golden State and watch what happens. ... Steph's going to have problems trying to guard my boy. Play one-on-one!"
LaVar to FS1 during UCLA-USC broadcast
3,120
Total tweets about LaVar on Feb. 18, which doubled his total from the previous 86 days.
LaVar links Lonzo to the Lakers for first time on KCUB in Arizona, saying he would discourage other teams from picking his son in the NBA draft.
Feb. 25
Feb. 27
"If Lonzo doesn't sign with Adidas, Nike or Under Armour, guess what -- I'll sign the Big Baller Brand. ... Lonzo is going to be the first one drafted with his own brand."
LaVar on ESPNLA 710
Charles Barkley starts a war of words with LaVar as Lonzo's NCAA tournament debut approaches.
March 7
"If Charles thought like me, maybe he'd win a championship. He says sometimes when stuff comes out of people's mouths, it's just stupid. Guess what? You talking, too."
LaVar on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd"
LaVar doesn't stop there, adding LeBron, M.J. and sneaker companies to the fray.
March 10
"You got LeBron, it's going to be hard for his kids because [fans] are going to look at them like, 'You got to be just like your dad.'"
LaVar on Chris Broussard's "In The Zone" podcast
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
March 13
"Back in my heyday, I would kill Michael Jordan one-on-one. ... He better make every shot 'cause he can't go around me. He's not fast enough."
LaVar to USA Today
Reuters
"A billion dollars, it has to be there. That's our number, a billion, straight out of the gate. And you don't even have to give it to me all up front. Give us $100 mil over 10 years."
LaVar to USA Today on his sons' future shoe deal
109,493
Over a seven-day span from March 7-13, LaVar saw an 861 percent increase in tweets about him compared with the previous seven days (11,393).
March 15
"I'm too old and fat to play basketball, but I'll challenge Mr. Ball to a one-on-one. No guy who averaged 2.0 points a game is going to beat me one-on-one."
Charles Barkley on Mike & Mike
"I know [Barkley] don't want to play no one-on-one 'cause he's too big. He better stay behind ... at TNT and eat them donuts."
LaVar on SportsCenter
March 21
91,320
The day after LeBron's comments, LaVar gets his most tweets ever in day (up to that point).
On the eve of UCLA's Sweet 16 game, ESPN's First Take has LaVar on air.
March 23
UCLA loses to Kentucky 86-75 in the Sweet 16 as Lonzo (10 points, 8 assists) gets outplayed by De'Aaron Fox (39 points, 4 assists).
March 24
"That was my final game for UCLA."
Lonzo to ESPN's Jeff Goodman in the locker room postgame
Three days after UCLA's loss, LaVar struts his way back onto First Take, this time with Lonzo.
March 27
April 6
LaVar quickly backtracks on his comments.
April 7
"I love those guys. ... I am not saying I don't like the white guys and we lost because of them. No, that's how they twisted it up."
LaVar to ESPNLA 710
After a back and forth with Nike exec George Raveling, LaVar insists that the big shoe companies would need to license his Big Baller Brand to sign Lonzo. Later, Nike, Under Armour and Adidas all walk.
April 28
"We've said from the beginning, we aren't looking for an endorsement deal. We're looking for co-branding, a true partner. But they're not ready for that because they're not used to that model."
LaVar to ESPN's Darren Rovell
May 4
56,995
The sticker shock from the shoes -- and Shaq's response -- results in the second-highest number of tweets about LaVar in a single day since Lonzo was eliminated from the NCAA tournament.
The Lakers get the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft lottery.
May 16
"That's all we working out for is the Lakers. Just the Lakers. There's nobody else that we need to work out for."
LaVar to LakersNation.com
May 17
"Stay in yo lane."
LaVar to Kristine Leahy on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" as Leahy attempted to ask a question.
284,986
The two-day tweet fallout from the draft lottery announcement and LaVar's insensitive remarks toward Leahy.
The Lakers select Lonzo No. 2 overall in the 2017 NBA draft.
June 22
"Lonzo Ball is going to take the Lakers to the playoffs his first year. Come see me when he does."
LaVar on ESPN's NBA draft broadcast
LaVar, Lonzo and LaMelo make a planned appearance on "WWE Monday Night Raw" in L.A. with The Miz.
June 26
188,292
This is the most tweets about LaVar in single day during this time span, surpassing May 16, when the Lakers won the No. 2 pick.
July 7
LaVar brings his fury to the AAU circuit, where he coaches his Big Baller Brand team.
July 23
July 27
"Unreal, never seen anything like it."
Kansas coach Bill Self on the scene at the Big Baller Brand AAU event. Adidas representatives estimated between 3,000 and 4,000 people were at the game, with another 1,500 people waiting outside.
A female referee who's officiating the Big Baller Brand AAU team gets replaced midgame after LaVar says, "We need to get someone else in here."
July 28
July 29
"It's not about me hating that lady or something like that. ... She's probably a great ref with the women. But this men's stuff? It's a difference between women's basketball and men's basketball."
LaVar doubles down on his criticism of the female referee
53,074
Tweets about LaVar during the three-day span of AAU news and controversy, surpassing the total from the previous 10 days.
July 31
Aug. 1
"[Rob] Gronkowski can't hang with me back in my heyday. Too fast, too strong."
LaVar to ESPN 850 in Cleveland
Aug. 18
The "Ball In The Family" reality show debuts on Facebook. The first episode had 17 million-plus views at the time of publication.
Aug. 31
"Everything my dad does is definitely planned, so even if people think he's crazy, he knows what he's doing."
Lonzo in the premiere of "Ball In The Family"
The youngest Ball brother, LaMelo (16), gets his own signature shoe (with a $395 price tag), which sets off NCAA eligibility questions.
Sept. 2
Sept. 13
Sept. 14
LaVar says he plans on pulling LaMelo out of Chino Hills High School and home-schooling him for his final two years before college.
Oct. 2
"I'm not dealing with the coach over there. I'm not dealing with the administration over there. I don't want no distractions on Melo. So therefore I'm going to home-school him and make him the best basketball player ever."
LaVar to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne
Oct. 2
00,000,000
If you think there hasn't been a method to all this madness, consider: LaVar Ball has been the most-talked-about member of his family on Twitter since March 1. Lonzo Ball -- who played in the NCAA tournament and was drafted No. 2 overall by the NBA's most popular franchise during that span -- trails his father's tweet total by more than 60,000.
Illustration by Alexander Wells; Twitter data via Spreadfast (current through Oct. 2)