For most of the season, the only professional athletes who were wearing Big Baller Brand shoes were Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball and his brothers, LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball, who wore the sneakers while playing professionally in Lithuania.
That changed recently, however, when Jordan Crawford of the New Orleans Pelicans busted out a pair of Lonzo’s signature shoe, the ZO2 Prime Remix, in an NBA game. He became the first non-Ball family member to become a big baller, albeit unofficially
Crawford said he just wanted to “support” the brand at the time, but added he wouldn’t say no to a potential endorsement deal.
According to Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports, that might be coming, with Crawford in negotiations to become a part of the Big Baller Brand:
The company is expected to send Crawford new merchandise, including shoes, this week for the NBA playoffs. Crawford became the first NBA player — besides Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball — to wear the brand this season and has continued to do so in the postseason. At this point it isn’t a normal endorsement deal for Crawford, but he would sign a contract with Big Baller Brand down the line that would allow him to be under the brand yet have the freedom to pursue his own personal endeavors.
Crawford signing with the upstart brand could be a win-win for him and the Big Baller clan. For Crawford, a mostly anonymous, granted helpful, reserve on a playoff team, the move will garner him plenty of headlines like this one to raise national awareness of his existence.
Big Baller Brand gets the same free marketing benefits those headlines give Crawford, while also helping establish the legitimacy of the brand as a real force in the market that can sign non-members of the Ball family.
It sounds like some things still have to be made official, but the first playoff appearance of a member of Big Baller Brand may come even without Lonzo leading the Lakers back to the postseason.