Lavar Ball and BBB got these Nike execs mad :umad:

[FLATOP]

Drop the links so I can cop

 

[NigerianDonDada]

 

[Hov]

You sounded intelligent until I went to this part. As someone that personally knows people working with the BBB brand, I can assure you it's nothing but professional people working to get this BBB off the ground. These people above hired professionals with extensive experience to handle all these areas.

Your entire post reeks of snobbery. Saying dumb statements like "my marketing buddy came up with this logo in 5 seconds" is irrelevant because I'm sure your marketing buddy has yet to come up with anything more relevant than BBB in his entire life.

Instead of criticizing another black man on how he chooses to spend his money, why don't you do whatever the fukk you think others should be doing?

And for the record, BBB is black owned and already employs alot of brothers behind the scene. It's not just a Brand, it's a movement

Ok, just because your Lavar Balls kin or thats your homeboy (its painfully obvious), doesnt mean its going to work. And Im not hating on you at all.

Lets address this easily:

One, I didnt say "my guy came up with a logo", and I said "my guy came up with a better idea for a brand name easily." I know you are trying to be funny when you said "he hasn't come up with anything more relevant than BBB", when in actuality the agency he works for (black owned by someone of our culture actually) has created campaigns and brands more relevant than Lavar Ball if his son won 10 MVPs. So you are just laughably wrong. In fact, I have to. PM me and maybe I'll show you in good faith, I don't have to "lie on the internet"

Two, file an LLC and you are black owneed. That means nothing.

Who are they employing? To do what? Run the woocommerce t-shirt website? Design shoes? Those shirts and hats are printed wholesale, at the same places everyone gets their shirts and hats. Are they employing manufacturers? Where is the product being made?

People like you like to throw around the "employing people" term alot when they ain't employing anyone. They are just throwing a couple freelancers some cash, maybe a retainer or two. Thats why black businesses dont go far a lot of times, because we mistakenly think that thats the sky - when you can put your brothers on a full-time, salaried position with W-2s and consistent income, thats winning. Did you know the sad fact like 90%-95% of black business have ZERO employees?

My post reeks of snobbery? Call it what you want boss. I;m not going to sit up here and kiss ass because we are the same skin color. It's about winning for real, and creating REAL movements, not fake "movements" that get some TV time for 6 months. Attitudes like yours are the reason we keep getting robbed out here.

Lastly, you asked why don't I do whatever it is I think he should be doing? Guess what - I actually am. And I've helped some athletes do the same as well - athletes with more credentials, status and stats than you could dream of seeing in your life. And Im passionate about it, becuase there is "fake business" and there is "real business", that puts dozens of people on full time jobs in multiple cities across the nation. Thats what I do brother.

Ask me about why the National Park Service bought me on to help them get 100,000 job to minority youth, before Trump got elected and shut it down. This is what I do, I just dont talk on the internet my man.

So, end it like this. I hope your boy does well. Im not going to fight you over someone elses ideas. I told you what does and doesnt work, maybe he will change the scope of business - more power to him.

But my #1 message to athletes or anyone raising a young star - don't worry about the fukk sh!t your first 1-2 years going pro. If you are really legit, there will be plenty of time and resources at your disposal to grow something amazing, and yes even your own shoe company. But anyone, even your Dad, who tries to pull something together to capaliaze while your name is hot before you have played is doing you dirty.

 

[TNC]

You do realize this isn't the first time an athlete has done this, right? Marbury and Shaq did it before him. There's a reason why athletes don't go this route. It takes millions of dollars of R&D to get a shoe right in the first place and even more money to push it forward in the future. Nike is a machine and it's one less thing those athletes need to worry about. There's a way to go about this if you want to own your own brand, but he's doing it wrong and it's even worse that he's treating his son's career as collateral damage.

You don't help out other black folks by blindly cheerleading them to do something wrong. This could've been his plan with the 3rd kid, who is offensively talented and has a massive following, and it would've been 3-4 years of proper planning with checks he got from Nike to pay for the whole thing. If you're doing it smart and actually have power you're never using your own money.

The problem there is that Shaq and Marbury are still employees of the NBA and workers. They still have obligations and commitments they need to meet. LaVar as the father, does not. You need someone to run things while the player does what he is there to do and experience parents can and probably will take this idea farther than an inexperienced 20 something kid will do.


Either way, its a bold move for anyone to make.

 

[Art Barr]

You sounded intelligent until I went to this part. As someone that personally knows people working with the BBB brand, I can assure you it's nothing but professional people working to get this BBB off the ground. These people above hired professionals with extensive experience to handle all these areas.

Your entire post reeks of snobbery. Saying dumb statements like "my marketing buddy came up with this logo in 5 seconds" is irrelevant because I'm sure your marketing buddy has yet to come up with anything more relevant than BBB in his entire life.

Instead of criticizing another black man on how he chooses to spend his money, why don't you do whatever the fukk you think others should be doing?

And for the record, BBB is black owned and already employs alot of brothers behind the scene. It's not just a Brand, it's a movement

So a collective of people yes man'd for lavar ball and agreed upon big baller brand as an actual name and the logo in 2017.

nikka,...


Art Barr

Their brand name is Wacker than jingle writers trying to write a rap record

 

[Art Barr]

Naw people gravitate to other brands and still get the every day known ones. It's all about who is pushing it. If Lonzo balls out and really becomes a Steph Curry type player, You will see BBB around. On a Nike level? No. But it has a chance.

Not when they got a Steph curry what are those under armor low's style awful name and logo.

Art Barr

 

[Blackrogue]

Ok, as an entrepreneur for the past 10 years, who has not only ran my own company, but been blessed enough to be mentored by some true CEOs of all races and backgrounds, and have given advice to plenty of breh's on this board...Let me say why this is all a terrible idea by Lavar Ball.

First, I see a lot of people bigging him up, saying “Oh Nike and Adidas are scared” - LOL. No they are not. They are literally not scared of a thing.

One guy starting a line of t-shirts and shoes that barely anyone will purchase is not changing the game today. Owning a brand doesn’t mean slapping your logo on Hanes T-Shirts and awful looking shoes (as Master P and others found out years ago) - The black or urban community will not support that outside of loyalists.

The larger companies have the highest level shoe designers and distribution. And guess what - you don’t have to fit that bill. You are making 100% profit. That “Billy” that Lebron is pulling? All profit, and now he can invest it directly into his community, reputable business ideas and things that can employ the next few generations as a true businessman.

Clubs, clothes, etc are whats known as “vanity businesses” - people do them because it makes them look cool..”Yo I own this club, these are my own t-shirts” but in reality have a .01% success rate of longevity.

Most college kids, even Lavar Ball, don’t got the funds to invest to distribute their shoes to a million people across the USA right now, get bought in mass by FootLocker and then wait for retail back, all while footing the bill themselves. Thats just not feasible, and it requires Lonzos dad to take a lot of Lavar money to get this done. Its just not a solid business idea, when there are much smarter ways to spend your money.

People just slap him on the back and say “Yea stick it to the big man”, not thinking of the true logistics that a major brand like Nike or Adidas has to offer. Some businesses aren’t worth getting into when you can take free money from them and do something you actually have a passion for business-wise - its like creating your own cola and trying to get people to buy it over Coca-Cola because it has your name on it.

It’s just dumb, and no one is going to buy it. If he came into the game with less ego (ie. hiring some of the best shoe designers to freelance on some kicks and selling those designs to a major brand to produce) or better yet some top level urban marketing dudes (I had a marketing dude come up with an idea for BBB in .01 seconds. He said it should’ve been named “WeBall” - now tons of AAU kids and athletes would wear that and they could grow faster, because it speaks to the masses and promotes self-promotion which is what people want - as opposed to Big Baller Brand, just a wack name in todays culture.

I could go a lot further, but its just something cool to talk about on the internet but everybody knows you aint finna see people walking around your city wearing BBB lol.

 

[Art Barr]

Also this will fail because he does not have the person who marketed hiphop to the whole world as a global marketing campaign as well.

To the point,...
I know most brands will fail without said person easy.


Art Barr

 

[Hov]

I hear what you are saying but the one area where I would challenge you on is the area of logistics. There was recently a thread talking about how retail is fading away and business is being primarily done online. This new business model changes everything from marketing, manufacturing and logistics. So, depending on the goal of a small brand, you may not have to be married to the old business model. Why not entertain the idea of "made to order" or "customization" because this justifies not having to create a lot of inventory which will have its pros and its cons but one of the pros is that it will allow the small brand to not have to put up a great initial investment.

I posted a video of the founder of "And1" where he talks about how he started the company and there is literally nothing that he dd that can not also be done by an athlete who can build a small team around him. The start of Under Armour was actually similar as well.

I think if an athlete is approaching a non traditional business model then he/she can start their own brand.

Business is primarily being done online in a lot of capacities, but the offline experience isnt going anywhere for certain products anytime soon - and shoes are one of those products. People love to try on shoes and see how they fit and how they look - Nike, Adidas and Converse have the luxury of existing for 40 years, so people are somewhat sure of the fit for the most part.

Now, funny you bring up the "made to order" concept - because I just saw Daymond John and Marc Cuban shoot someone down on Shark Tank for this concept, I tried to find the video on Youtube for you but couldnt - I will look again. He was explaining that the process, development and delivery of customization of a shoe would be so hard, because you always have to think scale. Who is developing these shoes when they are ordered? No one want to wait 5 weeks. What if Lonzo Ball becomes A.I. and hits a game winning shot over Lebron, and sales go from 5,000 to 120,000 in one night. How do you scale up in 1-2 days? Customizing each shoe? That would be a complete nightmare.

I did see your And1 video, and am actually familiar the UA dudes because they started here. I can speak for UA when I saw they started with ONE PRODUCT, that had good technology (dri-fit shirts) and then got it put on U Maryland and local athletes. That was there singular focus for a long time, as they grew the company. UA started from technology, not from someone wanting to push a new line of shirts, and Nike wasnt offering this. They were in a line Nike wasnt in.

Thats where I get frustrated with the vanity stuff, because Ball could legit do something to take over, instead of playing the game "they" want us to play, trying to sell shoes and t-shirts.

Go sign a young brand that has created some new fit of jersey or shoe technology thats an insert into your kicks, or some of these small companies that are developing athletes technology - there are chips you can put into basketballs that can measure the arc of your shot and translate it your iphone or macbook to see what you can do better form wise. Put the Ball name and that and they would be billionaires.

 

[Makavalli]

i like the concept but why do the clothes have to be so fuccing generic lol

all they shyt looks like the stuff you get when you order custom shirts online

It cost dough for legit designers and people that can edit fit style etc. they doing what all low level lines start out doing and thats putting their logo on basic tees hats etc. i give him props and what he is doing but just being irritable and standoffish might make some of them cracker dollars back away.

All big business got some kind of start up funding so he should just say we not looking to sign under anybody we talmbout distribution deals or co patnaz.

Big up to him and his kids even tho i will never ever ever wear a velour sweatsuit again. My powder blue sean john one been retired since 2004

 

[Lord Beasley]

I'm bout to support BBB. Screw these greedy execs

 

[calh45]

Go back to work employee. Everyone ain't built to ball.

Hopefully your 401k will still be intact once you retire. The Balls will be allright.

I'll be alright young man. My wealth ain't tied to the stock market like y'all sheep. Have fun being blind cheering for the blind

 

[50CentStan]

Can't wait till this loser lonzo is a bust.

 

[Ayo]

Dumb move.

I'm all about black empowerment but this is a dumb move.

Hundreds of failed sneaker brands have come before him. What's going to make this any different?

Dumb name too.

 

[jwonder]

Man if Lavar don't gtfo here with these orthopedic shoes.