Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball has reportedly severed ties with Big Baller Brand (BBB) Co-Founder Alan Foster for not being able to account for the whereabouts of roughly $1.5 million from Ball’s personal and business accounts, raising serious questions to the brand’s future.
Having been friends with Lonzo’s father for nearly a decade, Alan Foster persuaded LaVar Ball to create a shoe and apparel company featuring his three basketball playing sons rather than going the traditional route of having Lonzo sign one of the guaranteed multimillion-dollar endorsement deals offered by the likes of Nike and adidas. On top of the creation of the brand, this also resulted in Foster’s 16.3 percent ownership of BBB.
Alan Foster’s criminal past also played a role in the process. According to federal court records obtained by ESPN, Foster was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of mail fraud and two counts of money laundering as part of a scheme that defrauded 70 investors out of $4 million. Foster was also ordered to pay $3.7 million in restitution to victims.
After the news broke, Lonzo posted a picture on his Instagram that seemingly hinted at joining forces with Nike by using the brand’s advertisement tagline. Lonzo’s manager also posted a video of him throwing a pair of Big Baller Brand sneakers in the trash quoting, “#dumpurmerch”.
The Ball family has considered folding the brand and anything associated with Alan Foster during the weekend. With the crumbling of Big Baller Brand, it puts a new perspective in place for athletes coming out of college when it comes to brand endorsements.
What do you think is the future for the Big Baller Brand? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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Image via @zo
Not for nothing but i can think of ten more worthy players right off the top of my head that never had a chance at a Nike deal.
What s up with orders they v to deliver? zo2.0 for instance? Is it a scheme for Lonzo to departure from the brand? That s sad because they were actually doing something good this year (after last year’s parody)
Once I get my order, they can disband.
Just a shame, really. I don’t know what went into trusting someone like Alan, but I don’t think Lavar was necessarily naive. He really just tried to give Alan a shot, and what came of it was a brand, merchandise, water partnership, league sponsorship, a reality show, and exposure other parents would die to have for their prospect kids. The Ball family side of BBB was, in my opinion, a good thing.
With the news that the Lakers are looking into the ZO2.19’s contributing to Lonzo’s injuries, and DMo dumping some pairs I’m a bit irritated by that. Kinda sheds a negative light on Raysse, who I assume put the honest effort into helping Lonzo have a legitimate signature. There would have to be some insane inherent flaw for the ZO2.19 to be that bad. I mean if LeBron can steamroll in the LeBron 15, and Curry could play with no cushion and thin uppers, KD can play in his 11, Nick Young can play in a Yeezy…maybe it’s just Lonzo. He might just need braces or something.
What this tells me is that Lavar was never serious about building a brand of his own. This was all marketing, getting attention for his sons. He had no business plan, as he was just winging it. Lavar Ball was not ready for the big time. I am disappointed, because this had the potential to be something good. So what will happen now, this will be the template for what not to do. The next player who comes in ready to do his own thing on a major scale, will probably see success based upon this failure.
I know that some may not agree with me but I would have considered taking a major deal that was worth millions first and then branching out to do my own thing once I had more capital. I think that the family is probably well off or at least more so than the average family, but sometimes taking more can’t be a bad thing until you’ve worked through a solid plan and surrounded yourself with the right people prior to branching out on your own.
Its just a shame that the Brandblack guys (or SantaAna) got involved with these clowns.
Yeah, the only thing i care about in all this is that its a shame the brandblack guys cant have a shoe on nba courts anymore. I hope they can keep making shoes, preferably under the brandblack label, but if not then through some other means.