LaMelo Ball made waves on Wednesday morning with his surprise decision to join Puma. While his relationship with Big Baller Brand had been virtually non-existent in more than a year, there was no suggestion of LaMelo looking at companies and brands to sign with.
The move ends what was long a tumultuous relationship with the brand. While Big Baller Brand was responsible for the original MB1s, those shoes never had the hype of either of Lonzo Ball’s shoes and were the only signature shoe created for the youngest Ball sibling.
Given the marketing around the MB1 and LaMelo – the shoe making him the youngest player with a signature sneaker – it appears in hindsight that the shoe was more of a publicity stunt than a genuine attempt at building a brand.
There has been no official word that Wednesday’s move means Ball is no longer associated with Big Baller Brand. But any form of a connection between the two brands certainly would have been newsworthy from the jump.
LaMelo’s move leaves the question now of whether Lonzo will follow suit. While his relationship with the company hasn’t been as contentious, like LaMelo, his association with Big Baller Brand has been distant at best.
Many may point to the lyric in Lonzo’s latest album also sign that he’s committed to the brand. But Ball admitted in an interview with Ronnie 2K of NBA2K fame that most of the songs were written in 2018, pre-dating the Alan Foster situation that drove a wedge in the family business.
Since then, neither Ball brother has been spotted in much Big Baller Brand apparel. LaMelo spent much of his season in Illawarra wearing Kevin Durant’s signature shoe while Lonzo played his entire season in New Orleans wearing Kobes.
Lonzo’s sneaker future, then, is almost entirely up in the air. He’s stated that Kobes are his favorite shoe to play in. In the aftermath of the Foster situation, he made waves himself with a picture similar to Nike ads on his Instagram.
The connection with Lonzo and LeBron James will always come up, and James is a long-time, and lifetime, Nike athlete. Whether Nike is interested in signing Ball, though, is another story.
While Roc Nation and Puma have a connection, there is no exclusive connection between the two. Kyrie Irving is one of Roc Nation’s top clients and one of Nike’s most popular athletes. The company’s most famous football athlete, JuJu Smith-Schuster, is an Adidas athlete.
Lonzo wasn’t privy to the same type of meetings LaMelo took during the NBA season. Given how long the pandemic played out, Lonzo could have taken meetings with shoe companies during the break.
Without any rumors whatsoever, it’s little more than blind guessing as to where Lonzo will wind up. But LaMelo’s move may have foretold a grim future for the state of Big Baller Brand.
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