LiAngelo Ball And UCLA Teammates Suspended Indefinitely For Shoplifting In China

Freshman basketball players LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley were suspended indefinitely from the UCLA Bruins after being arrested for shoplifting in Hangzhou, China last week. The players apologized at a news conference Wednesday regarding the incident.

Ball, Hill and Riley appeared at a news conference at Pauley Pavilion and apologized for stealing from high-end retail stores while the team stayed in a hotel in Hangzhou, the Los Angeles Times reported. They each paid $2,200 bail and relinquished their passports as punishment.

They were also barred from traveling with the team and cannot suit up for home games, but are still allowed to attend class, coach Steve Alford said in a statement at the news conference. The accused players each read a statement in front of Alford and athletic director Dan Guerrero. However, none of the players took questions from reporters.

"These are good young men who exercised an inexcusable lack of judgment," Alford said.

Ball, 18, prepared an apology in a statement to the attendees of the press conference. It was the first time the team had addressed the public regarding the incident.

“I’d like to start off by saying sorry for stealing from the stores in China," Ball said. "I’m a young man, but it’s not an excuse for making a really stupid decision."

"I’m sorry for shoplifting," said Hill. “What I did was stupid, there’s just no other way to put it, and I’m not that type of person. This mistake will not define me as a person, but it shows that I have messed up and can learn from it. I don’t want to be known for this dumb mistake, I want to be known for my respectfulness and my love and passion for the game of basketball."

The trio was detained and questioned Nov. 8 on suspicion of stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton boutique next to the hotel in Hangzhou where the team had been staying ahead of their season-opener against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in Shanghai on Friday. Ball and his two teammates were released on bail and were seen headed back to the United States early Tuesday.

LiAngelo Ball is the younger brother of Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball and the son of Big Baller Brand entrepreneur LaVar Ball.