Yesterday, 16-year-old high schooler and member of the infamous Ball family, LaMelo Ball, debuted his brand new sneaker with family-owned Big Baller Brand. The MB1 is set to debut this Holiday 2017 season for the downright unnecessary price of $395 USD and continues to make waves given the fact that there’s nothing about the shoe that necessarily warrants that price point other than the fact that it comes from an independently owned entity. LaVar did is diligent research before releasing the model though, as many speculated that by making a signature model for profit, it would cost LaMelo’s status as an amateur. LaVar chatted with ESPN about the situation:
“We’ll worry about it when we get there,” LaVar said when speaking to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. “Who cares? If he can’t play, then he can’t play. It doesn’t mean he’ll stop working out and getting better.”
So it looks like after eldest son Lonzo’s brief stint at UCLA followed by middle son LiAngelo’s current tenure with the university, LaVar is looking for a way to promote his kids without them having to be a one and done prospect for a major college program. LaVar continued by saying he looks forward to the potential of the NBA changing the rule for LaMelo who currently ranks as the country’s 7th most sought after college prospect. “Maybe in two years, they’ll change the rule and he’ll be able to go to the NBA straight out of high school.”
Alan Foster, a spokesman for Big Baller Brand told ESPN’s Darren Rovell: “We will leave that up to the NCAA.”
It’s possible that we could see LaMelo skip college entirely just for his dad’s decision to continue making waves with Big Baller Brand? Do you agree with that decision? Stay tuned for more updates as the story develops.
Source: ESPN