LaVar Ball had his right foot and part of his lower right leg amputated last month, and now we know why.
Ball discussed his health scare in a first-person article published by Slam on Tuesday. He says that he had amputations done in three different stages, and the cause was an infection due to his diabetes. Ball blamed himself for getting careless with his health.
“I had an infection on my foot that started spreading through my blood due to not paying attention to my diabetes,” Ball wrote. “I ended up having to get my leg amputated. 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.”
LaVar Ball smiling
Jun 22, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; LaVar Ball the father of NBA prospect Lonzo Ball (not pictured) in attendance before the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Ball is encouraging people to take care of themselves and not ignore health issues. He says he had an infection on the bottom of his foot beginning in Christmas, but he waited so long before getting it checked out that it turned into something much worse. Ball says that he got so discouraged by the issues that he considered calling an end to his life. But his desire to continue seeing his sons succeed convinced him to keep fighting. He says he is glad now that he did.
The 57-year-old has a renewed positive outlook on life now that he’s past his health scare.
“I got a lot of limbs to come off. I’m hard to kill. I got some bigger stuff that the Big Baller still gotta do. And that guy upstairs put me here for a reason. And I’m gonna get it done,” Ball wrote.
Not only does Ball have two sons who are successful NBA players, but middle son Gelo signed a huge music deal in January. That completed the Ball puzzle in the eyes of many, but LaVar says he already knew he had three winners in his sons.