Keith Strudler: The Cost Of Sunglasses

Contrary to popular belief, Donald Trump is not the only American who can travel to Asia and cause an international incident. It seems members of the UCLA men’s basketball team have that same talent, which was on full display this past week, the opening for college basketball programs across the country.

To set the stage, UCLA, one of the nation’s premier Division I basketball programs and part of the sport’s aristocracy, did a one-week tour of China where they played their season opener against Georgia Tech. This isn’t uncommon for elite sports programs, who use such international travel for everything from spreading the sport globally to building their school brand for international recruiting to simply providing an international cultural experience for their student athletes that wouldn’t otherwise have it, since study abroad is a non-starter for a DI football or basketball player. These college basketball players are something between tourists and ambassadors, and it’s largely expected they behave as such.

Unfortunately for UCLA, three of their athletes apparently did not. First-year athletes LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill were arrested on suspicion of shoplifting at a high-end mall, including allegedly sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store, among other things. So at least they have good or ostentatious taste, depending on your perspective. And yes, as you likely know, LiAngelo Ball is of the very public Ball family, whose oldest son is now a rookie with the LA Lakers and whose father LaVar Ball aspires to be the sports version of Joe Jackson, or Kris Jenner, depending on your generation. In fact, LaVar was in China at the time opening two pop-up shops for his family owned “Big Baller Brand,” which sells basketball shoes, t-shirts, hoodies, and everything else you’d normally buy from Nike. Only his brand is built strategically and directly on the success of his kids’ basketball careers. Whether a highly publicized international arrest in a strategic consumer market is good or bad for business is for those far more sophisticated than I. Furthermore, it’s hard to know the blurred line between real and synthetic. So who knows exactly how LaVar Ball envisions his son’s moves on and off the court in relations to sales. At the very least, he’s set a new bar for helicopter parent.

Leaving that sideshow aside, you should all know that after a tense week or so in house arrest at the Hangzhou Hyatt, the players were released to come back home, records clear. This is far better than the alternative, which could have included up to 10 years for shoplifting in a country where the conviction rate teeters around 99 percent. So UCLA Basketball came dangerously close to holding open tryouts to fill its roster. Of course, President Trump is taking considerable credit for negotiating their release. So for anyone who says that Trump isn’t doing anything, know that when it comes to diplomacy around major Division I college basketball players who shoplifted designer eyewear, Donald Trump is an American icon.

That said, while the newly freed trio was spared the brunt of the Chinese legal system, the same might not be true for the UCLA athletics department. No punishment has been levied by the Bruins, but that’s not because the public hasn’t asked for it. We’ve heard everything from suspension for the entire season to kicked out of school. The most commonly used words include “respect,” “privilege,” “and “lucky.” I’m sure vernacular like idiots and criminals were also prevalent. This isn’t surprising, since it follows the commonly accepted belief that big-time college athletes should be thankful for the opportunities they’ve been given – emphasis on given, not earned. Add in the fact that this is LaVar Ball’s kid, and no one seems to be preaching clemency.

I won’t suggest that these three athletes should get out of jail free for their actions – which I suppose is exactly what happened. It was stupid, short sighted, ignorant, culturally unaware, and put a lot of people in a bad place, up to and including the President, who doesn’t need help getting into bad places. But I would note that the people who scream for their expulsion are the same folks who think college athletes should never get paid and that they’re simply amateurs, kids even. College students, as the NCAA likes to remind us. College students who made a really stupid mistake, one that didn’t physically hurt anyone. One that was made while they were playing a basketball game for their university in a foreign country, to help the university brand itself. So I would suggest that we remember all that before assigning the effective athletic death penalty to kids who stole sunglasses.

UCLA will decide today whether these three can play in their home opener tonight. Regardless, I’m guessing they’re simply happy to be home.

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