LaVar Ball said his on-air comments to ESPN host Molly Qerim were misconstrued and that her mind was “in the gutter.”
Ball came under fire for his remarks to Qerim after she asked him to “switch gears” to another topic in an interview during the June 17 episode of ESPN’s “First Take.”
Critics said his response to Qerim — “You can switch gears with me anytime” — was inappropriate.
However, Ball fired back against critics on Saturday, saying his words were misconstrued.
“I meant no sexual intent … ‘Switch gears’ means changing topics to me,” Ball told a Twitter userin a video posted online.
“Her mind in the gutter if she thinking something else. Only time I hit on her is if she’s breaking into my house and I mistake her for the Boogeyman.”
In light of the controversy, ESPN spokesman Michael Skarka said the network does not plan to invite Ball to appear on air again in the future.
But the media personality didn’t seem bothered by that.
“How am I going to be banned? I don’t work for them,” Ball said. “Said I’m going to banned from ESPN? I got my own show.”
Ball has a reality TV show hosted on Facebook called “Ball in Family.” The show follows the lives of Ball and his three basketball player sons. In addition, Ball runs the Junior Basketball Association and has a line of shoes.
