Furthering his public feud with President Donald Trump, LaVar Ball on Thursday tweeted a gif that portrays a cartoon image of him dunking on Trump, accompanied by the hash tags “thetrumpdunk” and “stayinyolane.”
The two clashed following the detainment — and later release — of UCLA basketball players who were arrested last month on suspicion of stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store while the team was in China.
One of the individuals involved in the incident was Ball’s son, LiAngelo.
Trump publicly questioned whether the players would thank him for his help in their release, tweeting, “Do you think the three UCLA Basketball Players will say thank you President Trump? They were headed for 10 years in jail!”
The President received the thanks of the players at a news conference later that day, where they also apologized for their behavior. But LaVar Ball days later told ESPN “Who?” when asked about Trump’s role in the release of Ball’s son and the other players.
“What was he over there for? Don’t tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out,” Ball said.
The back-and-forth continued, and Trump eventually tweeted that he “should have left them in jail,” referring to the players.
Ball’s tweet Thursday echoed remarks he had made on CNN last month in an interview with Chris Cuomo.
“If you help, you shouldn’t have to say anything,” he said in the interview. “Let him do his political affairs and let me handle my son, and let’s just stay in our lane.”
Earlier this week, Ball told CNN he is removing his son from the UCLA Bruins basketball program because he felt the length of his suspension related to the shoplifting arrest was “ridiculous.”
