Since early 2017, LaVar Ball has made headlines in the basketball world as a one-of-one personality, given his quirks and eccentricities.
From hyping up his sons (LaMelo, Lonzo, and LiAngelo) to building his own brand, he has been a constant presence in NBA circles. However, the 58-year-old is now dealing with some heartbreak, as he’s separating from his wife, Tina Slatinsky.
LaVar Ball Reveals Heartbreaking News
The buildup to the 2017 NBA Draft served as the launching pad for Ball. While discussing Lonzo’s pre-draft process, he began making some outrageous claims. For example, he stated that he could defeat Michael Jordan in one-on-one and hyped up his son as better than two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry.
Ball later created Big Baller Brand, and the family landed its own reality television show, “Ball in the Family.” He has remained in the news cycle in one way or another, keeping up his polarizing ways. However, the last year-plus haven’t been extremely kind to him. Early in 2025, TMZ reported that Ball had his right foot amputated.
Later, it was revealed that a foot infection triggered by diabetes caused Ball to undergo the procedure. Now, a little over a year later, Ball has himself confirmed some devastating news in the family.
Making an appearance on N3on’s stream, he revealed that he and his wife are now separated.
“Tina decided to go her own way, that’s why you don’t see her right here,” he said. “But she wanted to go do something else, that’s fine with me. We had our run.”
LaVar Ball says he and Tina have separated after 30 years 💔
“She wanted to go do something else… That’s fine with me, we had our run.. It is what it is”
(via @N3onOnYT) pic.twitter.com/BPn1iLWGNq
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) June 25, 2026
First meeting at Cal State Los Angeles, the two got married in 1997, nearly 30 years ago. Together, they gave birth to the three Ball brothers and have been intricately involved in their careers.
They’ve also dealt with some major adversities, with Slatinsky suffering a stroke in 2017, which caused her aphasia. But, even as they call it quits, Ball isn’t walking away from his marriage with a lot of regrets.
“Even though she was getting older and she had the stroke, she was never, Â ‘Oh, man.’ She was always beautiful in my eyes, until you say I want to go do something else,” he said. “Now you’re not beautiful to me anymore. To me, again, the fact that if you decide to go this way, I’m gonna go that way. That’s fine. It is what it is, man.”
Getting uncharacteristically emotional, he added, “Anytime you can find somebody you can stay in love with for a long time, or for one day, whatever. If you can witness that, that’s good. I had that with her.”
Ball hasn’t been in the spotlight as much since his surgery, but it has been a shocking few months for the Ball family as a whole. Now, the family was dealt some more stunning news, as LaMelo was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday morning.
