LAS VEGAS, NV – JULY 07: Lonzo Ball #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers brings the ball up the court against the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2017 Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 7, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Clippers won 96-93 in overtime. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Ethan Miller/Getty Images/AFP
Lonzo Ball’s sterling run in the 2017 NBA Summer League continues, leading the Los Angeles Lakers past the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday (Monday in Manila) en route to the tourney’s championship match tomorrow.
Aside from his ridiculous on-court vision, fans are perhaps more enamoured by the different brands of footwear he donned for the past three games—the Nike Kobe A.D.s, James Harden signature Adidas and Stephen Curry Under Armour shoes.
The high-profile rookie out of UCLA entered the league with his own signature line, the ZO2s shoes, under the Big Baller Brand (BBB).
But after ditching his own label—and actually playing better since—Lonzo’s father LaVar said his son could still sign with a major shoe brand “if the price is right.”
“It’s making a statement to the brands of what they could have had with an open mind,” he told ESPN’s Darell Rovell. “The players are the brand ambassadors. The brand is nothing without the players.”
The headline-grabbing patriarch also added that BBB would remain afloat , whether or not his son decides to don a different brand.
“Quite frankly we are officially in the shoe game, and are a billion dollar brand either way,” he said.
Before releasing the ZO2s under the BBB, LaVar reportedly asked the likes of Nike, Adidas and Under Armour for a staggering $1 billion to sign Lonzo and to sublicense products made by his shoe company, which everyone declined.
Lonzo, on the other hand, said that having the freedom to wear different shoe brands is just being a part of BBB.
He said in a separate ESPN report, “You can wear whatever you want when you play for Big Baller Brand. It’s just nice to get out there and do that.” Khristian Ibarrola/JB
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