'Who?' LaVar Ball Rejects That Trump Helped LiAngelo Ball China Release

LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo Ball, who had been arrested and later absolved of shoplifting charges last week in China, made slight of President Donald Trump’s involvement regarding the release of his son and the two other UCLA players.

"Who?" LaVar Ball told ESPN on Friday, regarding Trump's influence on the shoplifting case. "What was he over there for? Don't tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out."

In response to LaVar Ball, Trump’s social media director Dan Scavino took to Twitter Saturday afternoon and said that LiAngelo and his teammates "would be in China for a long, long, long time," if Trump hadn’t intervened.

Wannabe @Lakers coach, BIG MOUTH @Lavarbigballer knows if it weren’t for President @realDonaldTrump, his son would be in China for a long, long, long time! #FACT," Scavino wrote.

Trump, who had stopped in Beijing during his trip through Asia last week, reportedly raised concern about the players and asked Chinese president Xi Jinping to help resolve the case. The three players, during a news conference, thanked Trump Wednesday after they returned to Los Angeles.

Bruins freshman LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley had been arrested Nov. 7, for allegedly stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton shop while their team was in Hangzhou for a season-opener against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

LaVar Ball said he was relieved to have his son back with his family. LiAngelo Ball and his UCLA teammates were suspended indefinitely.

"As long as my boy's back here, I'm fine," LaVar Ball told ESPN. "I'm happy with how things were handled. A lot of people like to say a lot of things that they thought happened over there. Like I told him, 'They try to make a big deal out of nothing sometimes.' "Everybody gets stuck on the negativity of some things and they get stuck on them too long. That's not me. I handle what's going on and then we go from there."