LaVar Ball reveals the truth about his foot amputation: “It could all have been prevented”
LaVar Ball, Lonzo and LaMelo’s dad, had his foot amputated as a complication from diabetes, but has used his platform to encourage people to get check ups.
LaVar Ball has become one of the most well-known, out spoken father figures in the sports world. After losing his leg to diabetes in December, he has used his platform to send a warning to get regular check ups, saying the amputation could have been avoided.
Ball: Do what your supposed to do
The father of NBA players Lonzo and LaMelo Ball is used to having a camera or a microphone in front of him. Usually he is hyping up his sons, or is basketball past but on Tuesday he warned people to make sure that people are getting checked up regularly to avoid the issues that he has gone through in a first-person article with Slam Magazine.
“Get your checkups,” Ball encouraged. “Do what you’re supposed to do. If you don’t have insurance, go to urgent care. Because I’m going to tell you this, a little amputation and a little of this, it could all have been prevented.”
@notmidgy Top 5 lavar after his foot amputation! #lavar #lavarball #ballfamily #bigballerbrand #lameloball #lonzoball #liangeloball #basketball #nba #fyp #fy #gelo
♬ original sound - Hoodclassics
Ball is now getting accustomed to his post surgery life and even joked on TikTok joking “I’m LaVar Ball, It’ll grow back” shortly after the amputation. Ball is known for his larger than life personality and his incredible confidence in his kids who have become stars in the NBA, and his other son LiAngelo who came out with one of the rap songs of the year “Tweaker” that swept the nation a couple months ago.
Ball’s sons kept him fighting
The amputation came from an infection that spread through his blood, and Ball said the spreading of the infection came from not taking care of his diabetes. “First, they cut off a couple of toes. Then they cut off my foot. Then they said, ‘We gotta go almost knee high for another surgery.’ Three surgeries. And then there were also the blood transfusions. Not one, not two, not three, four different times.”
Ball eventually had to have his leg cut off all the way up to the knee, and admitted that he did have dark moments during the ordeal. “All those surgeries and blood transfusions, it made me question whether it was worth going through it sometimes. It made me think, ‘Man, just kill me and let me go about my business.’ It made me think that maybe it’s time for me to shut it down,” said the eldest Ball.
Lavar Ball did his first interview since the amputation of his foot with us. This screenshot is just a preview of how real he kept it pic.twitter.com/vLWUYmIYlV
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 18, 2025
Papa Ball credited his sons for keeping him around and giving him the strength to pull through. “But then seeing what my boys are doing out there, they’re like, ‘Dad you’re the toughest dude I know.’ That made me keep going. ... It was good to have that backing from my boys. One of the things that makes me go is when they are all together. When they are all together, I feel strong.”
Complete your personal details to comment
Your opinion will be published with first and last names