Update 06/18/2019 11:08am:
Although ESPN has come together in unison to condemn LaVar Ball for his "completely inappropriate" behavior yesterday on FirstTake, the controversial founder of Big Baller Brand has denied that his "switch gears" retort to host Molly Qerim had any sexual connotations at all.
Through a statement made by a rep from BBB, it was alleged that Ball had no intention of coming off disrespectful when he replied to Qerim, noting that "[LaVar] was asked if he wanted to switch gears, in his mind switching gears was 'changing the subject anytime' and he said, 'yes, you can switch gears with me anytime.' At NO time was that intended or meant to be sexual in nature."
With that said, during the broadcast both Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman were clearly taken aback by Ball's comment to Qerim, who later insinuated that she was going to speak to Human Resources towards the end of the show.
Meanwhile, as Ball received criticism from all the major networks and just about every notable name in sports journalism, former ESPN employee Jemele Hill said: "Kudos to Molly Querim for the professional way she handled LaVar Ball after his inappropriate comment. Maybe ESPN will have finally learned its lesson about putting him on TV."
Source: TMZ
Original 06/17/2019 8:50pm:
LaVar Ball made an appearance on ESPN's First Take on Monday (June 17), and he caught some backlash for a comment he made to Molly Qerim Rose.
Ball was addressing his son Lonzo being traded to the Pelicans when Qerim asked LaVar if she could "switch gears" as a segway to her next question. Ball responded by telling Qerim, "You can switch gears with me any time."
After Ball was slammed by viewers, ESPN responded to the controversy in a statement to TMZ, which read, "LaVar Ball’s comment to Molly Qerim Rose was completely inappropriate. We made him aware of that."
