Over the past few days, former pro Football Player LaVar Ball was quoted saying that he doesn't believe that his middle son, LiAngelo, has what it takes to make it in the NBA, and that his newly drafted eldest son, Lonzo, will take the Lakers to the NBA finals. LaVar Ball has become known for making brash and bold predictions, and is perhaps beginning to develop a reputation for being right with them.
"This is LaVar Ball," Max Kellerman, with ESPN, described the father. "He gives it to you raw, even it it means his own son!" He went on to describe Ball lacking any sort of "filter." Even though he has been right with many of his predictions, Stephen A.
Smith, also with ESPN, noted that LaVar has changed his stance on more than one issue.
LaVar Ball values sons' endorsement at $1 billion
In February, CBS reported on how Mr. Ball compared the branding power of his eldest son Lonzo to that of Michael Jordan and Nike. Then, in March, ESPN reported that LaVar had set a price of $1 billion on an endorsement deal that covered all three of his sons.
In late April, Fox Sports reported that Adidas, Nike, and Under Armour had each declined to enter into a deal with the $1 billion price tag Ball was asking. At the time, LaVar was said to be hoping to convince one of the big shoe companies to license the Big Baller Brand.
Shortly after the brand was turned down by Nike and company, Big Baller Brand released its first shoe, the Lonzo Ball signature "ZO2: Prime," which starts at $495.
Yesterday, Lonzo was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers, the second in the draft. To coincide with this, Big Baller Brand released its second Lonzo Ball signature shoe, which is essentially the ZO2: Prime, but "decked out in Lakers colors," as reported by Fox Sports.
Ball says Lonzo will take Lakers to playoffs
In February, LaVar told a radio interviewer that he would only allow Lonzo Ball to play for the Lakers.
CBS described the comments being "quickly walked back." Today, Hot New Hip Hop reported on Ball's "shocking" prediction for the 2017-18 NBA season, "I’m going to tell you what: Lonzo Ball is going to take the Lakers to the playoffs his first year. Come see me when he does. I’ll have another hat on that say, I told you so."
Earlier in 2017, when LaVar Ball stated that he wouldn't accept less than $1 billion for an endorsement deal covering all three of his boys, insisting that he would instead launch his own line of shoes, more than one observer might have been skeptical.
However, Lonzo has now been drafted by the Lakers and $495 shoes appear to be being sold.
'Right at every turn'
It has been noted that the Lakers were the third from worst NBA franchise in the 2016-17 season, making LaVar's prediction that Lonzo will take the team to the finals all the more bold. Bleacher Report described the attention focused on Lonzo, LaVar, and the rest of the Ball family, "Say what you will about LaVar Ball, but he has been right at every turn. He had a child, said he would go to UCLA and play for the Lakers, and he's made it all happen. Maybe we should have been buying stock in the Big Baller Brand all along rather than making memes about $500 shoes."
Before being signed by the New York Jets as a tight end in 1995, LaVar played college basketball with West Los Angeles College, Washington State, and Cal State Los Angeles. After being signed into the NFL, Ball was immediately loaned to the World League of American Football, where he played for the London Monarchs in the 1995 season, recording 28 yards in kick returns.
