LaMelo Ball sat down with Ernie Johnson on ESPN’s NBA Tip-Off on Wednesday night and was asked, almost in passing, how fatherhood was treating him. His answer traveled further than any play of his evening.
“Nah, my girl do all that,” the 25-year-old guard said, adding that changing diapers was “just not my job.” Ball said he had done it before, but was happy to leave the rest to his partner, model Ana Montana.
Johnson pushed back lightly on air, telling him “Man, you don’t know what you’re missing.” Ball described the setup at home as a division of labor, with each parent sticking to a role they had agreed on.
Clip spreads beyond the sports crowd
Within hours, the exchange had leapt off the ESPN broadcast and into every parenting corner of the internet. A wave of criticism followed, with commenters arguing that changing a baby is part of being a parent, not a chore to be outsourced to one half of a couple.
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Not all of the response ran one way. Some defenders argued the couple had worked out their own split and that outsiders had no business in it, according to BroBible’s rundown of the online reaction.
A nine-month-old son named LaOne
Ball and Montana, whose real name is Analicia Chaves, announced the birth of their son LaOne in May 2026 alongside the launch of I Am Fertility, a nonprofit supporting women going through IVF and fertility treatment. The baby was born in January, and Ball and Montana have been together since 2021.
The viral clip has pushed that charitable work out of frame for the moment, with much of the chatter online focused instead on the comment itself.
From Charlotte to Minnesota
The diaper story landed in the middle of Ball’s first full season away from the Charlotte Hornets. He arrived at the Minnesota Timberwolves in a blockbuster four-team deal reported in late June, after six seasons in Charlotte, and is now the point guard running the offense alongside Anthony Edwards.
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Ball averaged 20.1 points and 7.1 assists per game last season. He scored 21 points in Wednesday’s game against the Miami Heat before the ESPN sit-down.
The Timberwolves visit Orlando on Thursday night and host Toronto on Saturday.
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