Nobody expected LaVar Ball to make his biggest headline of the year over lunch. Appearing on streamer N3on's YouTube channel for a casual mukbang and conversation about sneakers, the Big Baller Brand founder stunned viewers by revealing that he and Tina Ball have ended their nearly 30-year marriage. The 58-year-old said the split was Tina's decision—and confirmed he's already moved on.
"You know, with my wife, Tina decided to go her own way—that's why you don't see her right here," Ball said. "But she want to go do something else, that's fine with me. We had our run."
Ball stopped short of explaining what led to the breakup, but made it clear there isn't any lingering bitterness. "The fact that if you decide to go this way, I'm going to go that way, that's fine," he said. "That's deep. It is what it is, man."
He then delivered the biggest surprise of the interview: "I had that with her. And I found somebody else, but it is what it is."
The announcement marks the end of one of basketball's most recognizable family partnerships. LaVar and Tina married in 1997 and built the Ball family's empire long before their sons became NBA stars. Together they raised Lonzo, LiAngelo, and LaMelo while turning Big Baller Brand into one of the most talked-about companies in sports and starring in the Facebook Watch reality series Ball in the Family.
Tina largely stepped away from public life after suffering a stroke in 2017, but remained a central figure in the family's story.
Ball also addressed that difficult chapter during the interview, insisting Tina's health never changed the way he saw her.
"Even though she had the stroke, and getting older, she would never be like, 'Oh man.' She was always beautiful in my eyes," he said. "Until you say, 'I want to go do something else.' Now you're not as beautiful to me again."
Despite the breakup, Ball reflected positively on the decades they shared together. "Anytime you can find somebody you can stay in love with for a long time—or for one day or whatever—if you can witness that love, that's good," he said. "I had that with her."
The personal revelation comes after another challenging year for the Ball family patriarch. In early 2025, LaVar underwent the amputation of his right leg after complications from diabetes, though he later appeared in good spirits as he recovered. While he has kept a lower profile since the surgery, the Ball name remains firmly in the spotlight.
