Lonzo Ball will undergo a third surgery on his left knee that is expected to cost him most, if not all, of the 2023-24 season

[Brozay]

Billy already bumped his minutes up to 17 last night. He still has his shot and his instincts and IQ are well intact.

Defensively he lost a step, but there are moments where he's flying around and I'm watching like...



This recovery is unprecedented and his journey low-key could potentially be a logical option for future players that are basically bone to bone/need micro fracture surgery

6 assists and they were all on 3pt shots - still a high impact player right out the gate

 

[aceboon]

long, but good read, he believes the bullshyt BBB sneakers might have contributed to his first meniscus injury

'This is a Hail Mary': Inside Lonzo Ball's unprecedented 1,000-day return to the NBA

What was originally thought to be a minor injury turned into "search and rescue" procedures and one surgery no NBA player ever had done. This is the untold story of Ball's harrowing road back to the game.

www.espn.com

TALENT EVALUATORS USED to wonder whether Ball loved the game or was just trained by his father to play a certain way. What some read as calm decision-making, others read as a lack of passion.

It has been eight years since the world first got to know LaVar Ball and his three basketball-playing sons. Since the Big Baller Brand was born, selling $495 shoes -- some of which actually got delivered.

It was a sensational story, and LaVar was determined to milk every bit of it. He signed the family up to do a reality show for Facebook called, "Ball in the Family." He started his own youth basketball league, the Junior Basketball Association, after pulling his youngest son, LaMelo, out of high school. He built out the Big Baller Brand with a clothing line, bottled water and even hot sauce.

It was hard to tell where LaVar ended and Lonzo began. Which parts were LaVar's dreams, and which were his sons'?

Did they want to be NBA basketball players as much as he wanted them to? Did Lonzo actually want to wear Big Baller Brand shoes?

"I was an Adidas kid since high school, so I was thinking that was going to be the route," Ball said. "But what was told to me, I guess, wasn't what really happened. I was told that nobody wanted to partner with me, so my dad was like, 'Just rock the brand.' And I was like, 'All right.'"

The problem, Ball said, was that the first shoes his dad had made for him to wear at NBA summer league in 2017 were unwearable.

"They were like kickball shoes," Ball said. He wore them just twice that summer. He and his manager, Darren Moore, went out to Foot Locker stores in Las Vegas to buy a different pair of high-end shoes for each game. Ball played one game each in the Air Jordan XXXI, Nike Kobe A.D., Adidas Harden LS and Under Armour Curry 4 en route to winning summer league MVP.

Eventually, Big Baller Brand set up an arrangement with Sketchers to manufacture its shoes, which Ball wore for his entire rookie season. But Ball said he wasn't happy with those shoes either and believes they could have contributed to the first meniscus injury he suffered as a rookie in January 2018.

"I think it's a possibility for sure, to be honest with you," Ball said. "I wasn't really getting hurt like that until I started wearing them."

 

[Regular_P]

long, but good read, he believes the bullshyt BBB sneakers might have contributed to his first meniscus injury

'This is a Hail Mary': Inside Lonzo Ball's unprecedented 1,000-day return to the NBA

What was originally thought to be a minor injury turned into "search and rescue" procedures and one surgery no NBA player ever had done. This is the untold story of Ball's harrowing road back to the game.

www.espn.com

TALENT EVALUATORS USED to wonder whether Ball loved the game or was just trained by his father to play a certain way. What some read as calm decision-making, others read as a lack of passion.

It has been eight years since the world first got to know LaVar Ball and his three basketball-playing sons. Since the Big Baller Brand was born, selling $495 shoes -- some of which actually got delivered.

It was a sensational story, and LaVar was determined to milk every bit of it. He signed the family up to do a reality show for Facebook called, "Ball in the Family." He started his own youth basketball league, the Junior Basketball Association, after pulling his youngest son, LaMelo, out of high school. He built out the Big Baller Brand with a clothing line, bottled water and even hot sauce.

It was hard to tell where LaVar ended and Lonzo began. Which parts were LaVar's dreams, and which were his sons'?

Did they want to be NBA basketball players as much as he wanted them to? Did Lonzo actually want to wear Big Baller Brand shoes?

"I was an Adidas kid since high school, so I was thinking that was going to be the route," Ball said. "But what was told to me, I guess, wasn't what really happened. I was told that nobody wanted to partner with me, so my dad was like, 'Just rock the brand.' And I was like, 'All right.'"

The problem, Ball said, was that the first shoes his dad had made for him to wear at NBA summer league in 2017 were unwearable.

"They were like kickball shoes," Ball said. He wore them just twice that summer. He and his manager, Darren Moore, went out to Foot Locker stores in Las Vegas to buy a different pair of high-end shoes for each game. Ball played one game each in the Air Jordan XXXI, Nike Kobe A.D., Adidas Harden LS and Under Armour Curry 4 en route to winning summer league MVP.

Eventually, Big Baller Brand set up an arrangement with Sketchers to manufacture its shoes, which Ball wore for his entire rookie season. But Ball said he wasn't happy with those shoes either and believes they could have contributed to the first meniscus injury he suffered as a rookie in January 2018.

"I think it's a possibility for sure, to be honest with you," Ball said. "I wasn't really getting hurt like that until I started wearing them."

Who told him nobody wanted him? Nike or Adidas for sure would have given him a contract out of UCLA. Did his dad lie to him or somebody else?

 

[jwinfield]

Who told him nobody wanted him? Nike or Adidas for sure would have given him a contract out of UCLA. Did his dad lie to him or somebody else?

No way in hell a shoe company didn't want the 6'6 flashy point guard that's been considered a top player since high school coming out of LA.

Either Lavar straight up lied to him or left out the part where he asked the companies for some dumb shyt that made them go

 

[Damnshow]

Boy oh boy LaVar is a moron

 

[aceboon]

Who told him nobody wanted him? Nike or Adidas for sure would have given him a contract out of UCLA. Did his dad lie to him or somebody else?

somebody definitely lied because Lonzo was the most popular player coming out of that draft and had juice since HS, we all remember how live those Summer League Lakers games were, every sneaker company would have signed him

 

[Optimus Prime]

Lavar wanted ownership with any sneaker deal Lonzo got offered so Nike/Adidas were
The BBB were so bad he was wearing Kobe’s part time anyway

 

[jwinfield]

Lavar wanted ownership with any sneaker deal Lonzo got offered so Nike/Adidas were

Nike, Under Armour, Adidas spurn deal with Ball

Nike, Under Armour and Adidas are not interested in completing a deal with potential top pick Lonzo Ball, his father, LaVar, confirmed.

www.espn.com

An endorsement deal with Nike, Under Armour or Adidas is not in the cards for Lonzo Ball.

Ball's father, LaVar, confirmed that the three shoe and apparel companies informed him they were not interested in completing a deal with his son. Sources with the three companies told ESPN.com that they indeed were moving on.

Never in the history of modern-day shoe endorsements have the big companies all stepped away from a potential top pick nearly two months before the NBA draft. But LaVar, who has been representing Lonzo in the deal, has offered something that has no precedent.

In his meetings with all three companies, LaVar insisted that they license his upstart Big Baller Brand from him, according to the companies. He also showed the companies a shoe prototype that he hoped would be Lonzo's first shoe.

"We've said from the beginning, we aren't looking for an endorsement deal," LaVar told ESPN. "We're looking for co-branding, a true partner. But they're not ready for that because they're not used to that model. But hey, the taxi industry wasn't ready for Uber, either."

 

[The God Poster]

So the blame is put on Lavar & not Sketchers? Interesting

 

[The War Report]

Happy for Lonzo. Pops fukked him with that wack ass sneaker.

 

[Brock Landers]

Over/under on this becoming a reality?

 

[hood b. goode]

 

[Rice N Beans]

So the blame is put on Lavar & not Sketchers? Interesting

Sketchers probably had less time and wanted the cash, so they pushed out whatever and that was cosigned by Lavar. Even then it sounds like Lonzo was adamant to NOT wear them until Sketchers was involved, so who knows who or what was producing the initial ones.

I get the cheese that can be the clothing industry, but you shouldn't shortcut professional sports gear just because you can. It really sounded like Lavar was on some thrift mom stuff. Getting shoes at K-Mart, Walmart, etc talking about "it's the same thing" compared to the conventional brands.

I think LaMelo went with Puma? Smarter move.

 

[Marc Spector]

So the blame is put on Lavar & not Sketchers? Interesting

when your son was a fan of Adidas, had a relationship with Adidas throughout college and played well in Adidas without getting hurt, and you fukk up the Adidas deal out of a egotistical need to push your brand and your son gets hurt in non Adidas shoes, then yea its kinda your fault.

 

[Collateral]

Over/under on this becoming a reality?

Hes a UFA so why not?