When word of the arrests of LiAngelo Ball and fellow UCLA freshmen Cody Riley and Jalen Hill for shoplifting in China first broke back in November, the rumors suggested that the teenagers, who were there to play Georgia Tech in the Pac-12 China Game, had simply stolen sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store and, after being interrogated by Chinese police, returned them without incident. But a report from ESPN’s Arash Markazi, who followed events on the ground and consulted with multiple sources who were involved, paints a picture of a more deliberate and wider spread series of thefts.
Per Markazi, the events were set off by something FOX Sports’ Jason Whitlock reported back in December: Gelo getting his credit card declined upon trying to purchase a pair of $730 sunglasses.
From that point, the three players huddled outside the store before re-entering, grabbing a pair of sunglasses and exiting. The thefts then continued across Pinghai Road, where the players lifted $15 sunglasses “more sunglasses, these of the $15 variety, from a local boutique store before walking into H&M and snagging a 5-pack of beaded bracelets retailing for $6.” All of this took place within the 90-minute window that the entire Bruins men’s basketball team was allowed for free time during its stay in Hangzhou.
The next morning, local authorities reportedly questioned Ball and three Georgia Tech players before determining that Gelo and two of his teammates were their prime suspects. After initially hesitating to admit fault, Ball and Hills copped to their crimes after being informed that they were captured on camera, while Riley, who was “being questioned inside Alford’s room, at some point managed to take the glasses from inside the pocket of his hoodie and shove them between couch cushions.” Riley, too, eventually confessed and dug out that pair of glasses.
Where Facebook’s “Ball in the Family” would have you believe that LaVar Ball found out about all this after he and his family arrived at the team hotel in China, ESPN’s report suggests that he was informed on the flight over by UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero, who happened to be on the plane.
None of these revelations do much to change the overarching points from this fiasco. The players all did something stupid and were punished for it, with LiAngelo withdrawing from school before suffering what would’ve been a season-long suspension like the ones Riley and Hill are currently under. Regardless of the specifics, Ball is now playing professionally in Lithuania all the same.
Rather, what this report does is paint the most vivid picture yet of just how ridiculous and unnecessary the whole situation was and how, exactly, it transpired.
