Former NFL player Shannon Sharpe on Tuesday called LaVar Ball's complaints directed at President Donald Trump the "dumbest thing" he could have said.
"Skip, you and I, we speak very highly of LaVar, but that was the dumbest thing he ever could have said," Sharpe told his co-host Skip Bayless.
"The President of the United States did not go visit his son in jail, so therefore, he's not going to say thank you," he added, explaining Ball's criticism.
While Trump was in China during his Asia trip, he spoke to his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping about three UCLA basketball players who were arrested in the city of Hangzhou after being accused of shoplifting. UCLA basketball players LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley, and Jalen Hill were released from Chinese custody and were allowed to come back to the United States last week. Each player thanked Trump and the U.S. government for their role in assisting the players' return home.
LiAngelo Ball's father, LaVar Ball, downplayed Trump's role in the situation.
Trump fired back on Twitter on Sunday, saying "I should have left them in jail!" and calling the elder Ball "very ungrateful!"
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/932303108146892801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ffreebeacon.com%2Fculture%2Ftrump-marshawn-lynch-suspended-rest-season-kneels-anthem%2F
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/932392209445457920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ffreebeacon.com%2Fculture%2Ftrump-marshawn-lynch-suspended-rest-season-kneels-anthem%2F
Sharpe appeared to take Trump's side in the feud and said the president's involvement in China "didn't hurt the situation."
"I can assure you President Trump mentioning [the detainment] to the Chinese President didn't hurt his situation. If he [LaVar Ball] felt this strongly, why didn't the hell he say that while they were over there? This is when he should have been vocal." Sharpe said.
Sharpe also asked why, if Trump didn't help the situation, why did all three players personally thank him?
"Why did all three of those guys get up there and say thank President Trump, personally? Thank the American government, personally?" Sharpe inquired. "I didn't hear one of them mention LaVar Ball's name. I did hear three 'President Trumps' and three 'American government.' Now they get back on American soil, he [LaVar Ball] wants to pound his chest."
"I see why President Trump used the word 'ungrateful,'" he added.
Later in the segment, Sharpe said Trump wouldn't have had to say anything about LiAngelo Ball if he hadn't attempted to steal.
"President Trump would have said nothing about the boy. If your son would have had kept his sticky ass fingers in his pockets, and not take peoples' stuff in China, we wouldn't even be having this conversation," Sharpe said, directing his comments to LaVar Ball.
In the past, Sharpe has criticized Trump, especially over the president's comments about player protests in the NFL.