Lavar keeping his foot on Nikes neck

[SadimirPutin]

As someone who is around many extremely well off black people daily, most of whom are friends and not just business associates, I can say I knew where this thread was going. Listen just because you don't have the courage to bet everything you have on yourself doesn't mean that someone who does so is wrong. Yes a job is stable and provides benefits, but to a person chasing a dream that stability (aka lack of freedom) is tantamount to a mental prison. I read through this thread and I see " No one with money would do that" "The designs are wack" "how will he manufacture" "he can never beat nike" "he doesn't have the money under armor has to launch it won't work" "black people only want to do vanity businesses" just real defeatist shyt, because it's the way you've been shaped to look at the world. And I'm not knocking you guys, but odds are your parents didn't pass you down a business or help you start your own business. They had jobs, and needed stability to take care of their children and that mentality was passed down to their children. I understand/overstand that but it is why we are primarily a race of workers and consumers in the US, but rarely owners.

We have these conversations all the time, especially when one of my friends is trying to do something outside of the box and bring something to the table that shakes up the status quo. A black person tries to do something that white people are already doing and have been doing since the US was formed and our own people are always the most skeptical, negative, and pessimistic when it comes to a new venture succeeding.

For you guys bringing up Shaq and Marbury trying this already you both miss a critical point, they didnt do this at the apex of their fame and that has a huge influence on how well their shoes did. Shaq already made Reebok Millions (billions?) off of Shaq merchandise before he got hip to the game. Stephon literally did what Lavar is trying to do now, but for a white man's company, AND 1. Their entire original rollout and big push was based around signing Steph as rookie and being the gear of "the Streets" by tying themselves to a baller with a huge street following. During that time period every court in NY had people in And 1 shirts and shorts and people were only jacking them heavily because of Marbury. Did they give him stock? No. Did he get a piece of the And 1 mixtape tour that spawned off of his Rucker reputation? No. So BBB can't at least get to an And 1 level? would you rather own And 1 or have a shoe deal with Nike?

When Floyd decided to leave Bob Arum people had all of the same criticisms you guys are throwing at Lavar. He's a boxer, how can he run a promotion company? thats a full time job that takes experts and experience, Floyd has no education. What did he do? Took his money and hired the most capable people money could buy for every role needed to run his company (The Same thing Nike and Adidas does) A decade later Floyd can compete with Bob Arum directly as a promotor, opening an entire career for himself post boxing so he doesn't have to whore himself out for a paycheck like the good brother Tyson. Floyd doesn't have to wait on a white man to setup his fights or negotiate with HBO and Showtime and makes more money off of the fights than any fighter in history. (not just a purse, but part of the door, all merch, pay per view revenue etc)

To give you guys a direct equivalent to Lavar in the fashion world, I present Christian Louboutin. He is a black man from one of the most notoriously racist places on earth (Paris, France) and has no formal fashion training (two huge strikes in the high fashion world). He was relatively poor and had no real connections in the fashion world. All he had was a book of drawings of shoes that he did and he took them to fashion houses and was hired to freelance design for Charles Jourdan, YSL, Chanel, and got a check but no real credit or influence in the brands. Just a check (like every player in the NBA). He felt he was being exploited and he completely stopped doing fashion for a few years, saved up some money, whipped up some of his own designs and found two backers. Not 2000 funders, not a Gucci or LV, or a million people on IG buying his shoes. Just two backers and himself, opened just 1 store in Paris in 1991 and only sold 200 pair of shoes his first year. That's not even one pair per day. Should he have quit?

No that was a start, and that is all you need in this world. The Princess of Monaco was one of his early customers and she complimented the store to a big fashion journalist (Vogue if i remember correctly) who wrote about her compliment in the magazine and his shyt took off. That's all it takes in the world of marketing, the right affiliation and/or pitch person (which is why Nike wants to sign every NBA All-Star if they could). Just 26 short years later this man that used his own name as his brand (No different than BBB), and had a goofy idea to hand paint the bottom of every shoe he made with red nail polish (which he was widely criticized for when he first gained mainstream attention in the fashion world), is now synonymous with the creme de la creme of women's shoes. I have over 20 pair personally. They sell 700,000 pairs per year, make over 300 million yearly, have 50+ stores and he employs thousands of people (including many of his family members).

Mattel made a Louboutin Barbie and it retails for $150 and sold out the first day. Does this happen if he just remained an employee of Chanel? Of course not. None of this is possible if he didn't think he could take on 200 year old fashion houses with just an idea and one small store in '91.

Why can't Lavar Ball have the even a sliver of success with basketball shoes and apparel as Christian Louboutin? Why can't BBB bring in $20 million in shoe sales yearly (Kanye proves it can even be done by a non athlete endorsing an athletic brand) if two of his sons become All-Stars and celebrities outside of sports? Is that impossible? And even if it doesn't challenge the biggest companies, Nike made $19 Billion+ in revenue last year from shoe sales alone, why are we going at Lavar for wanting a small piece of that for his sons and family?

If his company ends up employing even 100 people that he chooses then he already did more for his family/community than signing with Adidas, Nike, UA, or Reebok would have done.
If nothing else this loud mouth black man from South Central LA just insured that Lonzo will get the biggest endorsement check out of all of this years draft picks. I would speculate that at bare minimum Nike would have to pay twice the amount of money to sign Lonzo as they would have to pay to sign Markez Fultz or Josh Jackson. The man knows what he's doing. Let him cook.

why cant anyone who is so gung ho on Lavar give me reason why they havent bought any of his product?

Again I am not stating that Lavar cant be successful...

The thesis of this argument and thread is NIKE BEING SCARED OF LAVAR BALL AND HIS UPSTART COMPANY

what is BBB's niche? does he have backers(I dont know)... how have his fullfilment rates been?

If you or I were to go and ask ten random people about big baller brand would they know? how many employees does he currently have?

What is their replenish rate for inventory? What is their break even point? How much redundancy do they have for ther supply chain in case one of the suppliers of their raw materials runs into trouble?

And you know whats most amusing of all? I bet if an athlete wanted to be a big baller spokesperson he would try to do them pretty much the same as any other shoe/apparel company

So with little to no knowledge of certain business metrics about this "company" how can we credibly claim that he is a threat to nike?


And lastly...have you bought a BBB product? would you buy a BBB product? and if the answer is no please elaborate why?

 

[Big Boss]

As someone who is around many extremely well off black people daily, most of whom are friends and not just business associates, I can say I knew where this thread was going. Listen just because you don't have the courage to bet everything you have on yourself doesn't mean that someone who does so is wrong. Yes a job is stable and provides benefits, but to a person chasing a dream that stability (aka lack of freedom) is tantamount to a mental prison. I read through this thread and I see " No one with money would do that" "The designs are wack" "how will he manufacture" "he can never beat nike" "he doesn't have the money under armor has to launch it won't work" "black people only want to do vanity businesses" just real defeatist shyt, because it's the way you've been shaped to look at the world. And I'm not knocking you guys, but odds are your parents didn't pass you down a business or help you start your own business. They had jobs, and needed stability to take care of their children and that mentality was passed down to their children. I understand/overstand that but it is why we are primarily a race of workers and consumers in the US, but rarely owners.

We have these conversations all the time, especially when one of my friends is trying to do something outside of the box and bring something to the table that shakes up the status quo. A black person tries to do something that white people are already doing and have been doing since the US was formed and our own people are always the most skeptical, negative, and pessimistic when it comes to a new venture succeeding.

For you guys bringing up Shaq and Marbury trying this already you both miss a critical point, they didnt do this at the apex of their fame and that has a huge influence on how well their shoes did. Shaq already made Reebok Millions (billions?) off of Shaq merchandise before he got hip to the game. Stephon literally did what Lavar is trying to do now, but for a white man's company, AND 1. Their entire original rollout and big push was based around signing Steph as rookie and being the gear of "the Streets" by tying themselves to a baller with a huge street following. During that time period every court in NY had people in And 1 shirts and shorts and people were only jacking them heavily because of Marbury. Did they give him stock? No. Did he get a piece of the And 1 mixtape tour that spawned off of his Rucker reputation? No. So BBB can't at least get to an And 1 level? would you rather own And 1 or have a shoe deal with Nike?

When Floyd decided to leave Bob Arum people had all of the same criticisms you guys are throwing at Lavar. He's a boxer, how can he run a promotion company? thats a full time job that takes experts and experience, Floyd has no education. What did he do? Took his money and hired the most capable people money could buy for every role needed to run his company (The Same thing Nike and Adidas does) A decade later Floyd can compete with Bob Arum directly as a promotor, opening an entire career for himself post boxing so he doesn't have to whore himself out for a paycheck like the good brother Tyson. Floyd doesn't have to wait on a white man to setup his fights or negotiate with HBO and Showtime and makes more money off of the fights than any fighter in history. (not just a purse, but part of the door, all merch, pay per view revenue etc)

To give you guys a direct equivalent to Lavar in the fashion world, I present Christian Louboutin. He is a black man from one of the most notoriously racist places on earth (Paris, France) and has no formal fashion training (two huge strikes in the high fashion world). He was relatively poor and had no real connections in the fashion world. All he had was a book of drawings of shoes that he did and he took them to fashion houses and was hired to freelance design for Charles Jourdan, YSL, Chanel, and got a check but no real credit or influence in the brands. Just a check (like every player in the NBA). He felt he was being exploited and he completely stopped doing fashion for a few years, saved up some money, whipped up some of his own designs and found two backers. Not 2000 funders, not a Gucci or LV, or a million people on IG buying his shoes. Just two backers and himself, opened just 1 store in Paris in 1991 and only sold 200 pair of shoes his first year. That's not even one pair per day. Should he have quit?

No that was a start, and that is all you need in this world. The Princess of Monaco was one of his early customers and she complimented the store to a big fashion journalist (Vogue if i remember correctly) who wrote about her compliment in the magazine and his shyt took off. That's all it takes in the world of marketing, the right affiliation and/or pitch person (which is why Nike wants to sign every NBA All-Star if they could). Just 26 short years later this man that used his own name as his brand (No different than BBB), and had a goofy idea to hand paint the bottom of every shoe he made with red nail polish (which he was widely criticized for when he first gained mainstream attention in the fashion world), is now synonymous with the creme de la creme of women's shoes. I have over 20 pair personally. They sell 700,000 pairs per year, make over 300 million yearly, have 50+ stores and he employs thousands of people (including many of his family members).

Mattel made a Louboutin Barbie and it retails for $150 and sold out the first day. Does this happen if he just remained an employee of Chanel? Of course not. None of this is possible if he didn't think he could take on 200 year old fashion houses with just an idea and one small store in '91.

Why can't Lavar Ball have the even a sliver of success with basketball shoes and apparel as Christian Louboutin? Why can't BBB bring in $20 million in shoe sales yearly (Kanye proves it can even be done by a non athlete endorsing an athletic brand) if two of his sons become All-Stars and celebrities outside of sports? Is that impossible? And even if it doesn't challenge the biggest companies, Nike made $19 Billion+ in revenue last year from shoe sales alone, why are we going at Lavar for wanting a small piece of that for his sons and family?

If his company ends up employing even 100 people that he chooses then he already did more for his family/community than signing with Adidas, Nike, UA, or Reebok would have done.
If nothing else this loud mouth black man from South Central LA just insured that Lonzo will get the biggest endorsement check out of all of this years draft picks. I would speculate that at bare minimum Nike would have to pay twice the amount of money to sign Lonzo as they would have to pay to sign Markez Fultz or Josh Jackson. The man knows what he's doing. Let him cook.

 

[_DC]

#YOUNOTBBB

 

[Rawster]

why cant anyone who is so gung ho on Lavar give me reason why they havent bought any of his product?

Again I am not stating that Lavar cant be successful...

The thesis of this argument and thread is NIKE BEING SCARED OF LAVAR BALL AND HIS UPSTART COMPANY

what is BBB's niche? does he have backers(I dont know)... how have his fullfilment rates been?

If you or I were to go and ask ten random people about big baller brand would they know? how many employees does he currently have?

What is their replenish rate for inventory? What is their break even point? How much redundancy do they have for ther supply chain in case one of the suppliers of their raw materials runs into trouble?

And you know whats most amusing of all? I bet if an athlete wanted to be a big baller spokesperson he would try to do them pretty much the same as any other shoe/apparel company

So with little to no knowledge of certain business metrics about this "company" how can we credibly claim that he is a threat to nike?


And lastly...have you bought a BBB product? would you buy a BBB product? and if the answer is no please elaborate why?

:alreallynig:

I respect the fact that you gave a well thought out reply but you completely missed my main point.

I read through this thread and I see " No one with money would do that" "The designs are wack" "how will he manufacture" "he can never beat nike" "he doesn't have the money under armor has to launch it won't work" "black people only want to do vanity businesses" just real defeatist shyt, because it's the way you've been shaped to look at the world.

We have these conversations all the time, especially when one of my friends is trying to do something outside of the box and bring something to the table that shakes up the status quo. A black person tries to do something that white people are already doing and have been doing since the US was formed and our own people are always the most skeptical, negative, and pessimistic when it comes to a new venture succeeding.

All of your questions are valid questions, if I were an investor or was providing seed money into the company, but I am not and neither are you. And Lavar has not publicly asked for investors up until this point so why should any of his business metrics matter to us, the consumers?


I also see you conveniently skipped my example of Christian Louboutin, who started with no employees and only two investors. If he had your attitude he would have never tried to take on the big french fashion houses. They had decades of infrastructure and brand recognition over him, not to mention a black stiletto designer and manufacturer will never work.


You're bringing up supply chain and shyt, none of that matters for where BBB is now, and honestly doesn't matter to the general public. He will find a major backer (if he doesn't have one already) who can see the potential in what he was doing and all of that can be easily taken care of. Who's to say he doesn't already have an entire plan already setup but they are waiting until Lonzo is officially on an NBA team to go national?


For example, I have a friend who started a very popular T shirt line in his bedroom, and would just sell them hand to hand, over the internet peer to peer and have famous people wear them because he was a popular guy before starting the line. That led to small consignment deals with most of the famous urban fashion places around the nation, that he negotiated himself face to face with buyers at each store (Jimmy Jazz etc). He was still handling all of the day to day stuff, shipping, meeting with designers and manufacturers and flying to LA to buy fabric himself. After a year Marc Ecko reached out, gave him a nice check for a small piece of the company and took over all of the production and distribution. Now my buddy's line was in Macy's and other big retailers with 400,000 piece minimum buys (numbers may be off it's been a few years). And he was NOT an NBA player with a worldwide following and never did anything in fashion before coming up with a dope T shirt concept.

And you know whats most amusing of all? I bet if an athlete wanted to be a big baller spokesperson he would try to do them pretty much the same as any other shoe/apparel company

A black person tries to do something that white people are already doing and have been doing since the US was formed and our own people are always the most skeptical, negative, and pessimistic when it comes to a new venture succeeding.

This is the crab in a barrel mentality I am talking about. A black man that has shown to be arguably the most supportive sports dad in the past 20 years is having his character being questioned with no evidence of him being anything but a loud mouth and a great father. A dad that was able to get all 3 of his children full scholarships to UCLA before any of them were even juniors in high school. And that is without needing the Nike, Reebok, UA AAU circuit to get them recognized. They could pick any school they wanted to because their AAU team wasn't controlled by a sneaker company like 99% of the recruits entering college today.


The fact that you can say he would do an athlete that he signs as a spokesperson for Big Baller Brand the "same way as any other shoe company" means you acknowledge that the athletes are being exploited by the big companies. So why are you so opposed to him doing his own thing as opposed to allowing his children to be exploited?


We don't have to buy his gear now to support what he is doing. He hasn't even had a retail rollout yet. But the moment something catches my eye when they expand to female apparal (and something will) I will be supporting with my dollars.
:cacravenpls:
If BBB makes Lonzo Ball $5 million dollars a year over the course of his rookie contract (20 million total - easily possible) I can guarantee you there will be some guys in the next generation of elite ball players that will say Nike can keep their $250,000 endorsement deals. He doesn't have to worry about saying the wrong thing or being silent on issues that he feel are important to address and losing his endorsement deal. He doesn't have to wait 5 years and 3 All Star appearances to get he own signature shoe. He doesn't have to do ad campaigns that put him in a wig and a dress unless he chooses to. And most importantly, he doesn't have to wait until his second contract to have the capital to make other big moves. BBB doesn't have to beat Nike, they just have to be successful without Nike. And if they can do that, expect other players to follow suit down the line.
:kaperx:

For all of you guys saying Nike isn't scared of BBB, I think you are missing the bigger picture. The fact that one of their top guys are even mentioning a guy that has yet to sell even one shoe speaks volumes. He's on their radar and trust that they can see that Lavar is setting what can be a dangerous precedent for them on a basketball shoe level. You won't see a quote from a top McDonald's exec about Big Daddy's Burger Shack being bad for the fast food business. Because they are no threat to their company or their business model. Even if Nike (or Adidas, UA, LaNing etc) has to buy them out/partner with them now were are talking % of profit from each sale, creative control and partial ownership. You think they want that? When they can just give LeBron however many million dollars per year and then make billions off of his merchandise how they see fit?
:bronsidei:

These kids today don't need Nike for marketing, Lonzo Ball has more than 3 times the amount of followers as 4 year NBA vet CJ McCollum, who has 82 televised games being the starting guard for a playoff team per year. Let that sink in for a minute. If he can get 2% of his fans/followers to support his brand his rookie year then we will be having an entirely different conversation this time next year.


I always say people can't truly understand the power of ownership until they own some shyt. It changes the way you view the word "work" and the way require being compensated for your time and talents on a fundamental level. Some of us don't want a paycheck, we want to be able eat without depending on someone else to give us food.


And that's why I appreciate the conversation that BBB and Lavar Ball has started. I'm going to subscribe to this thread just to see how everything plays out over the next few years.

 

[etrofllenrod504]

Obligatory

It's the simple post like this, that are usually the best on this site

 

[SadimirPutin]

:alreallynig:

I respect the fact that you gave a well thought out reply but you completely missed my main point.



All of your questions are valid questions, if I were an investor or was providing seed money into the company, but I am not and neither are you. And Lavar has not publicly asked for investors up until this point so why should any of his business metrics matter to us, the consumers?


I also see you conveniently skipped my example of Christian Louboutin, who started with no employees and only two investors. If he had your attitude he would have never tried to take on the big french fashion houses. They had decades of infrastructure and brand recognition over him, not to mention a black stiletto designer and manufacturer will never work.


You're bringing up supply chain and shyt, none of that matters for where BBB is now, and honestly doesn't matter to the general public. He will find a major backer (if he doesn't have one already) who can see the potential in what he was doing and all of that can be easily taken care of. Who's to say he doesn't already have an entire plan already setup but they are waiting until Lonzo is officially on an NBA team to go national?


For example, I have a friend who started a very popular T shirt line in his bedroom, and would just sell them hand to hand, over the internet peer to peer and have famous people wear them because he was a popular guy before starting the line. That led to small consignment deals with most of the famous urban fashion places around the nation, that he negotiated himself face to face with buyers at each store (Jimmy Jazz etc). He was still handling all of the day to day stuff, shipping, meeting with designers and manufacturers and flying to LA to buy fabric himself. After a year Marc Ecko reached out, gave him a nice check for a small piece of the company and took over all of the production and distribution. Now my buddy's line was in Macy's and other big retailers with 400,000 piece minimum buys (numbers may be off it's been a few years). And he was NOT an NBA player with a worldwide following and never did anything in fashion before coming up with a dope T shirt concept.








This is the crab in a barrel mentality I am talking about. A black man that has shown to be arguably the most supportive sports dad in the past 20 years is having his character being questioned with no evidence of him being anything but a loud mouth and a great father. A dad that was able to get all 3 of his children full scholarships to UCLA before any of them were even juniors in high school. And that is without needing the Nike, Reebok, UA AAU circuit to get them recognized. They could pick any school they wanted to because their AAU team wasn't controlled by a sneaker company like 99% of the recruits entering college today.


The fact that you can say he would do an athlete that he signs as a spokesperson for Big Baller Brand the "same way as any other shoe company" means you acknowledge that the athletes are being exploited by the big companies. So why are you so opposed to him doing his own thing as opposed to allowing his children to be exploited?


We don't have to buy his gear now to support what he is doing. He hasn't even had a retail rollout yet. But the moment something catches my eye when they expand to female apparal (and something will) I will be supporting with my dollars.
:cacravenpls:
If BBB makes Lonzo Ball $5 million dollars a year over the course of his rookie contract (20 million total - easily possible) I can guarantee you there will be some guys in the next generation of elite ball players that will say Nike can keep their $250,000 endorsement deals. He doesn't have to worry about saying the wrong thing or being silent on issues that he feel are important to address and losing his endorsement deal. He doesn't have to wait 5 years and 3 All Star appearances to get he own signature shoe. He doesn't have to do ad campaigns that put him in a wig and a dress unless he chooses to. And most importantly, he doesn't have to wait until his second contract to have the capital to make other big moves. BBB doesn't have to beat Nike, they just have to be successful without Nike. And if they can do that, expect other players to follow suit down the line.
:kaperx:

For all of you guys saying Nike isn't scared of BBB, I think you are missing the bigger picture. The fact that one of their top guys are even mentioning a guy that has yet to sell even one shoe speaks volumes. He's on their radar and trust that they can see that Lavar is setting what can be a dangerous precedent for them on a basketball shoe level. You won't see a quote from a top McDonald's exec about Big Daddy's Burger Shack being bad for the fast food business. Because they are no threat to their company or their business model. Even if Nike (or Adidas, UA, LaNing etc) has to buy them out/partner with them now were are talking % of profit from each sale, creative control and partial ownership. You think they want that? When they can just give LeBron however many million dollars per year and then make billions off of his merchandise how they see fit?
:bronsidei:

These kids today don't need Nike for marketing, Lonzo Ball has more than 3 times the amount of followers as 4 year NBA vet CJ McCollum, who has 82 televised games being the starting guard for a playoff team per year. Let that sink in for a minute. If he can get 2% of his fans/followers to support his brand his rookie year then we will be having an entirely different conversation this time next year.


I always say people can't truly understand the power of ownership until they own some shyt. It changes the way you view the word "work" and the way require being compensated for your time and talents on a fundamental level. Some of us don't want a paycheck, we want to be able eat without depending on someone else to give us food.


And that's why I appreciate the conversation that BBB and Lavar Ball has started. I'm going to subscribe to this thread just to see how everything plays out over the next few years.

so basically NO you havent bought any and NO you arent planning to buy any soon.....

as for crabs in a barrel and taking risk...its funny..how would you know this about anybody...Several people on this site have started entrepreneurial ventures or are involved in early stage companies. People who can speak credibly on the business issues he will have to face.

Again...the premise is that he is a threat to NIKE.....you know what are real threats in the business world....ORGANIZATIONS THAT MOVE PRODUCT.

if and when he starts to move product in volume thats when he is a credible threat....not some idealistic stick it to the man figure,

I will go back and check but did this Nike exec start talking about Lavar unprompted or was he asked a question? Either way I agree it was not a good look.

Thats a far cry from Nike being institutionally afraid.

The premise of an athlete starting their own brand is NOT SOME NEW CONCEPT.

Now could a superstar athlete in the future start his own brand? Sure. New successful companies rise up..that is the nature of capitalism.

BUT LAVAR BALL HAS THUS FAR PRODUCED UGLY PRODUCT. wWITH POOR BRANDING...PROVEN TO BE A LOUDMOUTH WHO ANTAGONIZES PEOPLE THAT HIS SONS HAVE TO DEAL WITH.

but if its gonna be so simple let Lavar send some of his products for some "celebs" and "important people" to wear.

Businesses still have to run on the production costs and balance sheets. Even the up and coming street brands who do eventually explode

 

[Dwight Howard]

why cant anyone who is so gung ho on Lavar give me reason why they havent bought any of his product?

Again I am not stating that Lavar cant be successful...

The thesis of this argument and thread is NIKE BEING SCARED OF LAVAR BALL AND HIS UPSTART COMPANY

what is BBB's niche? does he have backers(I dont know)... how have his fullfilment rates been?

If you or I were to go and ask ten random people about big baller brand would they know? how many employees does he currently have?

What is their replenish rate for inventory? What is their break even point? How much redundancy do they have for ther supply chain in case one of the suppliers of their raw materials runs into trouble?

And you know whats most amusing of all? I bet if an athlete wanted to be a big baller spokesperson he would try to do them pretty much the same as any other shoe/apparel company

So with little to no knowledge of certain business metrics about this "company" how can we credibly claim that he is a threat to nike?


And lastly...have you bought a BBB product? would you buy a BBB product? and if the answer is no please elaborate why?

miss the point

 

[Bilz]

why cant anyone who is so gung ho on Lavar give me reason why they havent bought any of his product?

Again I am not stating that Lavar cant be successful...

The thesis of this argument and thread is NIKE BEING SCARED OF LAVAR BALL AND HIS UPSTART COMPANY

what is BBB's niche? does he have backers(I dont know)... how have his fullfilment rates been?

If you or I were to go and ask ten random people about big baller brand would they know? how many employees does he currently have?

What is their replenish rate for inventory? What is their break even point? How much redundancy do they have for ther supply chain in case one of the suppliers of their raw materials runs into trouble?

And you know whats most amusing of all? I bet if an athlete wanted to be a big baller spokesperson he would try to do them pretty much the same as any other shoe/apparel company

So with little to no knowledge of certain business metrics about this "company" how can we credibly claim that he is a threat to nike?


And lastly...have you bought a BBB product? would you buy a BBB product? and if the answer is no please elaborate why?

These people who are in here stanning BBB have never run any kind of successful business. They have little understanding of business profitability and sustainability and are just infatuated with the dreamer mentality. They're people that think they're smarter than the system yet they can't succeed in it.

There is nothing wrong with someone trying to invent or create something. There are brilliant people out there whose own personal life hacks turn into billion dollar companies. If Lavar was putting out professional looking merchandise that was innovative, interesting, or useful, there wouldn't be much opposition.

But the BBB branding and product we have seen so far is stuck in 1995. Its gaudy and ugly. Big baller brand is a dumbass name. Charging $60 for a screen printed hard cotton tshirt is

So far its just an embarrassing attempt to profit off his son's success and he's gambling his son's money to do it.

The Lavar stans in here need to wake the fukk up.

 

[Rawster]

These people who are in here stanning BBB have never run any kind of successful business. They have little understanding of business profitability and sustainability and are just infatuated with the dreamer mentality. They're people that think they're smarter than the system yet they can't succeed in it.

There is nothing wrong with someone trying to invent or create something. There are brilliant people out there whose own personal life hacks turn into billion dollar companies. If Lavar was putting out professional looking merchandise that was innovative, interesting, or useful, there wouldn't be much opposition.

But the BBB branding and product we have seen so far is stuck in 1995. Its gaudy and ugly. Big baller brand is a dumbass name. Charging $60 for a screen printed hard cotton tshirt is

So far its just an embarrassing attempt to profit off his son's success and he's gambling his son's money to do it.

The Lavar stans in here need to wake the fukk up.

Get the fukk out of here with all the projecting on who is successful or owns business or not. Just to shut that BS down, I'll get a bit personal. In Feb we just sold off a show to a network and we got more upfront than any of the actors that are casted will get. More than most mainstream actors will get for their roles on TV (not the superstars obviously). Do You know why? Because we paid for all of the production cost for the pilot episodes upfront then had the freedom to shape it and then shop it as we pleased. We hired our people to work on the set, even got guys with no experience in showbiz that the fam fukk with jobs in lighting, sound, runners, grips, interns and paid them the going rate to work. And when we sat down with the networks we were able to negotiate keeping most of our people on staff through the first season at full salary whether the show is canceled or not.

Whatever we sacrificed in the negotiating phase was what we chose to. Why? Because we owned the shyt. I could have taken a nice check as a writer and show creator, pitched the idea and had to put up none of my own capital. But then I lose all creative control, I am stuck with a salary, I would get no exec producer credits and have no room for renegotiation if the show is a hit.

I never talk about personal shyt here but You don't know who a person is behind these screen names. Some of us are living the Lavar Ball experience in our respective fields right now and you're damn right I'm going to root for a black man that says fukk the system, I want to be my own boss and actually puts words into action. I did the corporate thing right out of school and gave back as a teacher as well. That being said, I could never see myself having a "time" to be at work again. I'm sure Lavar's children seeing their dad do well for himself and being able to be at every one of their games since they were kids has given them the same entrepreneur spirit that he has. Do you know why we don't see a lot of Lavar Balls? Because they are too fukking busy working so much that they are too tired to go to junior's games after work. They can't get the two weeks off from work to go to EYBL with their son's team because their boss told them they need them that week. This is deeper than a fukking basketball shoe, this is starting a conversation that Dame Dash tried to began but people didn't take him seriously because he fell off. Prince and MJ literally died (or were killed depending on how you look at it) preaching this same message. OWNERSHIP. Sometimes the message is greater than the messenger.



This aint just start with Lonzo being a potential #1 pick, Lavar has had no 9 to 5 for years and has had them living lovely because of his entrepreneur mentality. He's not attempting to profit from his sons, it's quite the opposite, you would never even hear of his sons if not for Lavar Ball. He has guided their every step thus far and look how far he has gotten before any of his sons have ever signed a check. How is he gambling with his son's money when Lonzo Ball hasn't even made one cent thus far? Who is paying for his everything, including their publicist, while their child just spent a year as a student making exactly $0? Lavar Ball.


My dad told me when he first started getting mainstream press "them folks scared of Lavar because he's a strong black man that doesn't give a fukk about playing nice for white folks. They never like uppity nikkas." "They want mama's in the board room, not dads who will kick their ass if they get out of line with their sons". I disagreed with him at first but am now sure he is 100% right. Because every critique being thrown at Lavar and BBB can apply to any other apparel line that was ever created. But somehow he is the worst thing to happen to basketball in 100 years. Worse than Bernie Fine and Ernie Lorch molesting kids, worse than Dave Bliss covering up a murder, worse than UNC giving kids degrees in The History Of Dodgeball, worse than Donald Sterling running a basketball plantation in LA. All because he thinks he kids are worth being able to demand the entire world.

I can guarantee that Dan Gilbert doesn't write that letter to LeBron if Lavar Ball was his dad always at the arena shaking Dan's hand after every game. I've seen players without strong fathers there get shafted terribly. I Saw Josh Selby get buried at Kansas in an attempt to keep him another year and completely ruin his draft stock, then in turn ruining his career. I remember Mike Jarvis shytting on Omar Cook to every scout and GM that called him before the draft causing him to fall to the 2nd round. I doubt that happens if Omar had a dad that Jarvis knew would go upside his head. I watched Texas A&M treat DeAndre Jordan like a bum project to tank his draft stock and keep him another year, causing him to fall to the second round. I saw Mississippi State play the #1 point guard in his class Malik Newman at fukking small forward for an entire season and make a one and done can't miss guard have to transfer just to keep from completely killing his draft stock. You notice Steve Alford didn't criticize Lonzo publicly one time the entire season, I wonder why?


A fearless and outspoken black man is truly mainstream America's worst nightmare. If you disagree with me, just PM me and let me know which team Colin Kapernick is on at the moment.

 

[Flight]

Adidas will throw him the bag but I don't see Zo getting an even better shoe deal than Ben Simmons.

 

[Bilz]

Life story

You may want to take a look at what you responded to. I have nothing against entrepreneurship. The problem is that his work so far is extremely amateur and this is typical of most people who go into business for themselves.

Root for him, applaud his initiative, do all that, that's fine. But these people who are acting like he's a genius and has the big companies shook need to

He needs to make some serious improvements before he earns the right to be taken seriously. His stuff so far is trash and that isn't my opinion, its a fact. At best it looks like a bluff to drive his price up. And if that's all it is, the people who have been building him up for going indie would have to call him a sellout.

 

[JackRoss]

With the exception of this past year, (Dabo) you're pretty much on point.







You're not gonna take down an empire like Nike from the jump. You know they want your son badly .. you KNOW that THEY know you're coming from an adidas school and background .. so they're gonna have to pony up. Jump on board with them.. make that extra bread that they're gonna have to throw your way since they're gonna have to poach you from the jaws of adidas .. and then do your own thing. Using their own money.

That starting from the bottom is on some Erin Brockovich shyt .. and it ain't gonna fly.

Erin Brockovich? Wasn't that bytch a whore?

 

[SadimirPutin]

so many people have themselves invested in the legend of Lavar Ball...

you really can get a cult following just off the strength of loud mouth bravado

you know what...I'll bite...let me go do some google, twitter and instagram searches for big baller brand over the next few days...I will come share some results

 

[Rawster]

You may want to take a look at what you responded to. I have nothing against entrepreneurship. The problem is that his work so far is extremely amateur and this is typical of most people who go into business for themselves.

Root for him, applaud his initiative, do all that, that's fine. But these people who are acting like he's a genius and has the big companies shook need to

At best it looks like a bluff to drive his price up. And if that's all it is, the people who have been building him up for going indie would have to call him a sellout.

Life story when I tell you about one deal from a month ago only to dispute the shot you threw at me. You said and I quote "These people who are in here stanning BBB have never run any kind of successful business. They have little understanding of business profitability and sustainability and are just infatuated with the dreamer mentality" while I just got a life changing check (for some - i won't drop figures) from my successful business that I haven't even touched yet so that just disproves what you just said. That dreamer mentality has taken me around the world so If Lavar thinks he can challenge Nike, no matter how improbable, I'm behind him. I heard these same things from the drones when I resigned from the corporate gig and cashed in the 401k. Trump heard these same things when he announced he was running for president. Just because something hasn't been done, does not mean it cannot be done. Look at what Apple did to Blackberry and Motorola's marketshare after introducing the iPhone, although up until that point they never .produced a phone before the iPhone.

If Lavar doesn't believe it can happen with the utmost confidence it won't happen because the world is full of people tearing others down and looking for an excuse to not support your ventures. There are 1000s of people like you to remind him on his Instagram page everyday how what he's trying to do won't work, how it can't be done, how it looks amateurish etc. Some call them naysayers, others call them haters. No apparel company was worth a billion dollars in it's first year, they all had to start small and build. Why such harsh criticism for a line you didn't even know existed 6 months ago.

He needs to make some serious improvements before he earns the right to be taken seriously. His stuff so far is trash and that isn't my opinion, its a fact.

That being said, all the shyt you say about Lavar, can be thrown at any apparel company. It's all taste which is extremely subjective. Are you on Nordstrom's site in the reviews saying the same thing about PRPS? These jeans come pre-covered in Mud and are retailing for $425. These are literally trash, and are covered in fukking dirt but since its PRPS, it doesn't need "serious improvements" because they have "earned the right to be taken seriously." But I guess the lead designers at PRPS are so much more genius than Lavar Ball.

I do consider Lavar a genius, a marketing and promotion genius in particular. His son will be the first Top 3 pick to ever come into the NBA with his own sneaker and apparel line. A 19 year old NBA player with his own brand. They are literally trailblazers. How is there not some genius to what Lavar is doing, here's a man that averaged 2 points in the Pac 10 that has been on more nationally syndicated sports shows than Andrew Wiggans. But I forgot black men can't be genius. This was actually posted about a college educated black man (Lavar Ball) earlier in this very thread.

Somebody had to have written that for him.

Because a college educated black man couldn't possibly write a coherent paragraph. It's not enough yo's and slang to be authentic. Do you guys see the goalpost being created to diminish what this man is attempting to do? That good cold white man ice makes every lemonade taste better.
Please tell me the last college player Phil Knight publicly said he was interested in? Even after saying his dad saying wants a billy?

Knight also said he has no qualms about Lonzo’s father, LaVar, seeking $1 billion in exchange for a shoe and apparel deal for Lonzo and LaVar Ball’s two younger brothers.

“If he can get it, get it,’’ Knight said.

But apparently the Balls won’t be getting that $1 billion from Nike.

“It’s a little steep,’’ said Knight, and of Lonzo Ball he added, ““He’s an awfully great player. Yeah, we have an interest.”

I'm sure Ralph Lauren thought Polo would have the hood on lock forever too. Trust all 3 Ball kids will keep crossing path with future NBA players who like them and the more of them that rock the gear the more of a hold it will have publicly. The gear looks right at home in this picture next to Adidas and Jordan Brand on these 3 high level basketball players. When they make that jogging suit for women I will buy it. That jogging suit is not trash, so off rip he has one item that I'm sure will sell if Lonzo takes the league by storm. You're telling me Nike can't see what we all can see when looking at this picture? I see someone potentially coming for market share, and inspiring others to come for their piece of the pie as well.

 

[Bilz]

Long text

I'm not criticizing your story, I'm just not going to repost all that in my reply.

The bottom line is, most businesses like this are unsuccessful. That's why the reward is so great when it actually works out. But starting the company alone is not where the genius is and it does not warrant celebration.

Right now, he's just an inexperienced dude making ugly shirts and hats and apparently he thinks they'll sell just because his son is mildly famous. He's getting free promotion on ESPN and they clown him for the high price and low quality. I think a lot more should have been done before he ever went public with this. This is an embarrassing effort at this point.

I do not like Nike products but they design their clothes for function and performance. BBB is taking generic premade t-shirts and hoodies and throwing some B's on them. Its a joke.