For years, LaVar Ball sold more than bold predictions about his sons. He built the Ball family into one of basketball’s most recognizable brands, repeatedly crediting Tina for helping build both the family and the vision that eventually produced three NBA players. That public image shifted on Wednesday when Ball confirmed the couple had separated after nearly 30 years of marriage.

Appearing on N3on’s livestream, Ball publicly confirmed the separation, saying Tina had decided to “go her own way.” “Tina decided to go her own way, that’s why you don’t see her right here,” Ball said, via Courtside Buzz. “She wanted to go do something else. That’s fine with me. We had our run.”

Ball also reflected on Tina’s health, saying that despite her 2017 stroke, “She was always beautiful in my eyes,” before adding that his feelings changed after she decided to leave. He then revealed he has entered a new relationship, saying, “I had that with her. And I found somebody else, but it is what it is.” Asked who the person was, Ball replied, “It’s somebody who’s working for me. That’s what I’m telling you.”

Ball’s comments remain the only public confirmation of the separation. As of Thursday, there are no publicly verified divorce filings, Tina has not commented publicly, and no representative for the Ball family has released a statement. Likewise, there is no independent reporting establishing when Ball’s new relationship began.

The announcement marks a significant shift for a family whose public identity was built around unity. Tina, a former Cal State LA basketball standout, helped shape the family’s rise alongside LaVar as Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo emerged as NBA prospects. After suffering a severe stroke in 2017 that left her with aphasia, she largely stepped away from public life but remained a central figure in the family’s story.

Ball’s remarks stand in contrast to comments he made throughout the family’s rise to prominence. In a 2017 interview, he said of Tina: “Whatever I do, right or wrong, that girl is with me. And I ain’t going to never leave that girl, I love her to death, and I couldn’t have did none of this stuff without a woman like that.”

During Tina’s recovery from her stroke, Ball also publicly vowed that her condition would never change how he viewed her. Speaking to ESPN in 2017, he recalled telling her: “You can have one eye drooped and your mouth over here like this and you’re still beautiful to me. I look at you the same way. That ain’t gonna never change.”

Beyond the personal revelation, the announcement represents another turning point for the Ball family brand. Throughout the rise of Big Baller Brand and the Facebook Watch series Ball in the Family, LaVar consistently presented his household as the foundation of everything the family built on and off the court. Wednesday’s interview marked the first time he publicly confirmed that foundation had changed.

Ball revisited another familiar prediction

The conversation eventually shifted back to basketball, where Ball returned to one of his long-standing beliefs that all three of his sons belong on the same NBA team.

“Charlotte better be smart, get all of his brothers, and I guarantee you they become the most watched team in the NBA,” Ball said on N3on. “They became the best high school team ever, so don’t tell me together as grown men, they won’t become the best NBA team ever. Put all three of them, and they jump to the No. 1 team in the NBA.”

That scenario is no longer possible. Earlier this offseason, Charlotte traded LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a deal that brought back Naz Reid, Josh Green, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, first-round pick swaps in 2028, 2029 and 2030, and second-round selections in 2029, 2032 and 2033.