The publicity machine that is LaVar Ball barreled into Las Vegas this week with predictable impact.
That is, everyone had to watch what Ball and his youngest son, LaMelo, could do against top-rated 2018 forward Zion Williamson in a showdown at Las Vegas’ Cashman Center.
An estimated 4,000 people crammed into a courtside seating area intended for 1,500 people, a madhouse so intense that even LeBron James couldn’t get in.
James showed up shortly before the game, when CBS Sports reported 1,500 fans had already been turned away.
“We shut him down,” Adidas marketing consultant Dan Cutler told CBS Sports. “Just safety of him coming and going. … him sitting there would have been fine, it’s just getting in and out.”
The madhouse also extended online: A Facebook Live stream of the game received 800,000 views within two hours of the game’s end and that number pushed to 1.2 million with replays viewed through Thursday afternoon.
