--- title: UCLA Players Speak After Being Released from China description: Freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley were accused of shoplifting in Hangzhou canonical: https://time.com/5025795/ucla-players-speak-first-time-released-china/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-15T18:24:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T00:17:19.000Z article:section: Sports og:title: UCLA Players Speak After Being Released from China og:description: Three players were accused of shoplifting during a trip to Hangzhou og:url: https://time.com/5025795/ucla-players-speak-first-time-released-china/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt220d224445a4d222/6988e5f0656a3fc530bd279c/ucla.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: COLLEGE BASKETBALL: NOV 01 Cal State LA at UCLA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: UCLA Players Speak After Being Released from China twitter:description: Three players were accused of shoplifting during a trip to Hangzhou twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt220d224445a4d222/6988e5f0656a3fc530bd279c/ucla.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # UCLA Players Apologize for Shoplifting in China and Thank President Trump for Helping Secure Their Release by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Updated: Dec 13, 2023 12:17 AM CUTPublished: Nov 15, 2017 6:24 PM CUT  UCLA guard LiAngelo Ball (15) on defense during an college exhibition basketball game between the Cal State Los Angeles and the UCLA Bruins on November 1, 2017, at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, CA. UCLA guard LiAngelo Ball (15) on defense during an college exhibition basketball game between the Cal State Los Angeles and the UCLA Bruins on November 1, 2017, at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, CA.Icon Sportswire—Icon Sportswire via Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Updated: Dec 13, 2023 12:17 AM CUTPublished: Nov 15, 2017 6:24 PM CUT Three [UCLA basketball players](http://time.com/5025195/ucla-players-home-detained-china/ "undefined") have apologized after returning home from [China](http://time.com/5023426/ucla-basketball-players-china/ "undefined"), where they were detained for shoplifting. UCLA’s Steve Alford said the players, three of his biggest stars, will be suspended indefinitely from the Bruins. Freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley were in Hangzhou before a game with Georgia Tech as part of the Pac-12 China Game when they were accused of shoplifting from a Louis Vuitton store. They were briefly detained, but then released to their hotel and told not to leave. [President Trump](http://time.com/5021380/donald-trump-asia-roy-moore-tax-california-shooting/ "undefined") reportedly intervened to secure their release, and on Wednesday morning, Trump tweeted that he doubted the basketball players thank him: > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/930815626460921856) All three players did thank Trump during the press conference, with Cody Riley saying, “To President Trump and the United States government, thank you for taking the time to intervene on our behalf.” Ball, whose brother Lonzo plays for the L.A. Lakers, said, “I’d like to start off by saying sorry for stealing from the stores in China. I didn’t exercise my best judgment, and I was wrong for that.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5025795/ucla-players-speak-first-time-released-china/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5025795/ucla-players-speak-first-time-released-china/"},"headline":"UCLA Players Apologize for Shoplifting in China and Thank President Trump for Helping Secure Their Release","datePublished":"2017-11-15T18:24:30.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T00:17:19.000Z","description":"Three players were accused of shoplifting during a trip to Hangzhou","url":"https://time.com/5025795/ucla-players-speak-first-time-released-china/","keywords":["Basketball","China","NCAA","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt220d224445a4d222/6988e5f0656a3fc530bd279c/ucla.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt220d224445a4d222/6988e5f0656a3fc530bd279c/ucla.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"COLLEGE BASKETBALL: NOV 01 Cal State LA at UCLA","caption":"COLLEGE BASKETBALL: NOV 01 Cal State LA at UCLA","creditText":"Icon Sportswire—Icon Sportswire via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/basketball/","name":"Basketball"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5025795/ucla-players-speak-first-time-released-china/","name":"UCLA Players Apologize for Shoplifting in China and Thank President Trump for Helping Secure Their Release"}}]}] ```