LaVar Ball Confirms Separation From Wife Tina After Nearly 30 Years, Says He Has Found Someone New
The Big Baller Brand founder, 58, made the announcement during an appearance on YouTuber N3on's channel, saying Tina "decided to go her own way" the first public confirmation of a split that neither party had previously addressed.
LaVar Ball has publicly confirmed that he and his wife Tina Ball have separated after nearly 30 years of marriage, disclosing during a YouTube appearance that Tina had chosen to pursue a different path and that he has since entered a new relationship.
What LaVar said in his own words
Ball made the announcement during an appearance on YouTuber N3on's channel, where the pair discussed a range of topics including trainers and family life while sharing a meal. During the conversation, Ball confirmed that he and Tina had gone their separate ways, although he did not provide a specific reason for the separation.
Ball said: "You know with my wife, Tina decided to go her own way that's why you don't see her right here. But she want to go do something else, that's fine with me. We had our run. So even though she had the stroke, and getting older, she would never be like, 'Oh man, she was always beautiful in my eyes.' Until you say, 'I want to go do something else.' Now you're not as beautiful to me again."
He continued: "The fact that if you decide to go this way, I'm going to go that way, that's fine. That's deep. It is what it is, man. And like I said, 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. I had that with her. And I found somebody else, but it is what it is."
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What is and is not confirmed
LaVar Ball's statements on the N3on stream constitute the sole public confirmation of the separation. No public statement has been issued by Tina Ball or the couple's adult sons. Whether a formal divorce filing has been made in any court jurisdiction has not been officially confirmed by either party or their legal representatives. Several outlets have reported the separation as a divorce, but the distinction between a separation and a legally filed divorce has not been officially clarified.
Tina Ball's health history
LaVar Ball met Tina Slatinsky at Cal State Los Angeles. The couple married in 1997 and have three sons together. Tina Ball suffered a stroke in 2019, from which she has since been recovering. LaVar Ball's reference to the stroke during his N3on remarks "even though she had the stroke" was the only health-related context he offered in connection with the separation.
LaVar's own health challenges
The announcement comes amid recent health challenges for Ball himself. Reports in February 2025 stated that doctors amputated his right foot due to a serious medical issue. Details of the condition were not disclosed at the time. It was later reported that Ball had been dealing with diabetes and underwent surgery that resulted in the removal of his right leg.
The Ball sons' current careers
The separation comes at a time when the sons have established their own careers somewhat independent of the original Big Baller Brand spotlight. Lonzo Ball is with the Chicago Bulls, LaMelo Ball continues his NBA career with the Charlotte Hornets, and LiAngelo Ball is pursuing professional basketball opportunities.
LaVar Ball rose to national prominence beginning in 2016 through a series of bold public statements about his sons' basketball careers, his Big Baller Brand shoe company, and the family's reality television series Ball in the Family, which aired on Facebook Watch. His marriage to Tina was a consistent feature of the show's family narrative throughout its run.
The unique angle worth noting: LaVar Ball built his public persona around two central pillars his sons' basketball careers and his marriage. Every major interview, reality TV episode, and media appearance for nearly a decade featured Tina as an equal part of the family brand. Her absence from public life following her 2019 stroke was the first visible fracture in that image. The separation announcement made not through a publicist or formal statement but during a mukbang-style YouTube stream is consistent with how the Ball family has always operated: converting private moments into public content. The medium is the message.
