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- UCLA freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley, and Jalen Hill were arrested in China and charged with shoplifting from a Louis Vuitton store.
- President Trump reportedly brought the case up with Xi Jinping during his recent visit to the country.
- The case appears to be nearing a resolution.
President Trump has asked his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for help regarding the case of UCLA basketball players LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley, and Jalen Hill. The players were arrested last week and charged with shoplifting from a Louis Vuitton store located next to the team’s hotel.
According to David Nakamura of the Washington Post, Trump made the appeal during his two-day visit to Beijing, just a day after the arrests.
The UCLA Bruins were in China to open the NCAA basketball season against Georgia Tech in Shanghai. The story made headlines not only for its peculiarity, but also because of the involvement of LiAngelo Ball, the second-oldest son of LaVar Ball and brother of Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball.
The rest of the UCLA team has since returned stateside, but Ball, Riley, and Hill were ordered to remain in Hangzhou for “a week or two” according to ESPN’s Arash Markazi, as police review surveillance footage of the matter.
After Trump brought up the players’ arrests, Xi said he would look into the case, and ensured that the three would be treated fairly. The Washington Post also reported that charges against the players have been reduced and the case is nearing a resolution.
Lonzo Ball, said on Saturday that his father called him on Friday to say that the family is staying in China as the case plays out and that “we are handling it out here, so that’s a good sign.”
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