LaVar Ball, the father of Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball, has been under a lot of scrutiny in recent months for being outspoken on a lot of controversial topics.
One of those topics is the brand he started for his sons, Big Baller Brand, which recently released oldest son Lonzo Ball’s first signature shoe, the ZO2’s.
Many people don’t understand why LaVar started BBB for his sons, as opposed to just letting Lonzo sign an endorsement deal with a bigger company like every other top draft pick does.
LaVar recently wrote an article for SLAM Online explaining his reasoning behind it:
We just want to inspire people and show them that there’s a different lane you can travel in. It’s OK to step out and do it another way. Only a select few will do it, but folks will start creating their own brands, like we’ve done with BBB, and more and more families will begin feeling comfortable with betting on themselves.
LaVar also talked about how getting rich isn’t a problem for some of these top athletes, but maintaining that wealth has been an issue in the past, so he believes by creating his own brand and betting on his sons, Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo, they will be able to capitalize on their talents long after they are done playing basketball.
While it is easy to criticize LaVar for putting added pressure on his children, at the end of the day he has their best interests in mind and just wants to see them succeed.
Lonzo will take the court as a Laker for the first time on Friday, as the Lakers begin Las Vegas Summer League action against the Los Angeles Clippers.