UCLA AD Dan Guerrero isn’t worried about LaVar Ball or Big Baller Brand

UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero sat in the bleachers of a Chicago gym just before day two of the NBA draft combine began. He was there, in part, to support the UCLA players in attendance — Ike Anigbogu, TJ Leaf and Thomas Welsh.

But the most talked-about player heading into this draft — also one of his — wasn’t there: point guard Lonzo Ball.

“Well, you know, we knew when we recruited Lonzo that there would be certainly a lot of publicity around him both as a player and as a potential professional athlete,” Guerrero said. “We also knew that as we went through the recruiting process, that when you recruit the student athlete, you also recruit the family. There’s nothing that we’ve experienced that was of any surprise.”

Lonzo Ball’s family includes two younger brothers both planning to go to UCLA and one very outspoken father, LaVar. In recent months, LaVar has favorably compared his son to Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James. He’s blamed UCLA’s sweet 16 loss to Kentucky on their preponderance of white players with slow foot speed. (Leaf and Welsh, both white players, said they did not take offense to the comment). He’s boasted that he could have beat Michael Jordan in his prime. He has said Lonzo will only play for the Lakers.

Asked if LaVar ever tried to interfere with UCLA’s coaching staff or program, Guerrero said “never” twice. Asked for his thoughts on the idea that teams would shy away from Lonzo because of LaVar’s antics, Guerrero replied by extolling Lonzo’s contributions to UCLA.

“Great teammate; went to school every day; really enjoyed being at UCLA, being a college student,” Guerrero said. “We certainly knew it was a distinct possibility he was not going to stay longer than a year and that was true. Everything we hoped and thought that we’d get with Lonzo, we got. … Terrific young man. Did not create one bit of problems for us at UCLA.”

Recently, the Ball family’s biggest splash has come from the release of shoes under the Big Baller Brand label. The main sneakers cost $495 and are part of what their website calls the team’s family brand. LaVar has not shied away from the fact that the brand’s success is dependent on his sons’ success, raising questions about potential NCAA violations.

Guerrero says he isn’t worried.

“We always work very closely with the NCAA to make sure there; compliance is the most important thing,” Guerrero said. “We work with the NCAA on a regular basis.”

tania.ganguli@latimes.com

Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli