The Sports Report: Lonzo Ball opens up about Alan Foster

Hello everyone. My name is Houston Mitchell, and my email is running about 50% saying Maximum Security should not have been disqualified and 50% angry that I even mention horse racing in a sports newsletter.

Lonzo Ball

Lonzo Ball hasn’t talked a lot about his split with former business manager Alan Foster, but he finally did over the weekend.

“We looked at the transactions,” Ball said during an episode of HBO’s “The Shop.” The alleged problems “didn’t start happening until my mom got sick [Ball’s mother had a stroke two years ago]. She took care of all the money … . So that’s what really hurt me. That ... hurt.”

“I don’t even know what I would do if I seen him right now. I haven’t seen him. When that happened, everything just went off.”

In April, Ball and the Big Baller Brand sued Foster for damages of at least $2 million. The lawsuit asserts that Foster defrauded Ball, misled him and mismanaged Ball’s funds.

Said Ball: “I bought my mom and dad a house. [Foster] had a room. … The way I feel about it is different. That’s why I covered the BBB [tattoo] up on my arm. When I saw that, I saw him. That ... made me so — I was tight.”

Ball also described the difficulty of talking to his verbose father about the whole thing.

“That’s the first time I called him,” Ball said of his father, “and he literally shut up…. So that was hard because that was the first time I ever told [my father] that: ‘Nah, let me talk.’

“I pulled up to the house that night, laid it out for him. Moving forward ever since.”

Sparks

The season may be over for the Lakers and Clippers, but there’s another pro basketball team in town that is gearing up to play: The Sparks. And they have a new coach this season you may have heard of: Derek Fisher.

The Sparks opened training camp on Sunday.

“Today was really just about starting to build relationships, making connections and getting to know each other as a group, so I think we accomplished that first and foremost,” Fisher said. “The energy was great. We’re a veteran group and they’re serious about their jobs, so we don’t have to get them fired up very much, they already know what they want to do.

“The thing we have to remember most is that even those who are already great at what they do never stop working hard to get better, it’s an ongoing journey. On paper it appears we’re supposed to do something, but it’s about coming in here every day like we have something to prove every time we step on the court. These are smart, high-IQ basketball players. Many of them have won championships before and I’m excited that we have an opportunity to be really good, but we’re going to have to work hard.”

The Sparks’ roster is headlined by former MVPs Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike, All-Stars Chelsea Gray, Alana Beard and Chiney Ogwumike and 2019 draftees Kalani Brown and Marina Mabrey.

“It feels great, we have a new coaching staff, a lot of new players, a lot of new faces, it’s like the first day of school — you lay out your clothes and you come to training camp ready to get better,” Parker said. “The goal for all 12 teams is to win a championship but Rome wasn’t built in a day. Coach made the comparison about how Beyonce at Coachella prepared eight months for two hours and that’s what we’re doing … preparing for that moment to shine in October.”

Other newsletters

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NBA playoffs

Sunday’s NBA scores (Read game stories here)

Toronto 101, at Philadelphia 96 (Series tied, 2-2)

Denver 116, at Portland 112 (Series tied, 2-2)

Today’s NBA schedule

All times Pacific

Milwaukee at Boston, 4 p.m., TNT (Bucks lead series, 2-1)

Golden State at Houston, 6:30 p.m., TNT (Warriors lead series, 2-1)

NHL playoffs

Sunday’s NHL score

St. Louis 4, at Dallas 1 (Series tied, 3-3. Read game story here)

Today’s schedule

(All times Pacific)

Boston at Columbus, 4 p.m., NBCSN (Bruins lead series, 3-2)

San Jose at Colorado, 7 p.m., NBCSN (Sharks lead series, 3-2)

Odds and ends

Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen gives up walk-off grand slam to Padres’ Hunter Renfroe…. Canelo Alvarez wants to ‘fight for a title’ — and maybe make Gennady Golovkin squirm…. Many in horse racing agree with Maximum Security’s disqualification at Kentucky Derby…. Angels’ bullpen falters in a second loss to Astros in Monterrey, Mexico…. Chris Paul is not the same player against Warriors, but that may be what Rockets need…. UCLA baseball loses series finale to Arizona State, but desert trip still an overall success…. UCLA sweeps USC to win NCAA women’s beach volleyball title…. St. John Bosco quarterback DJ Uiagalelei commits to Clemson…. April Ross teams with Alix Klineman to win at AVP Huntington Beach Open.

Today’s local major sports schedule

(All times Pacific)

Atlanta at Dodgers, 7 p.m., Spectrum Sportsnet, AM 570

Born on this date

1907: NFL coach Weeb Ewbank

1931: Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays

1947: High jumper Dick Fosbury

1972: NHL player Martin Brodeur

And finally

Watch Willie Mays take on Mickey Mantle on “Home Run Derby.” Click here to watch.

That concludes the newsletter for today. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, please email us here. If you want to subscribe, click here.