For much of 2019, the Ball family found itself at odds in some capacity with one another. The turmoil stemmed from a report early in the year alleging Big Baller Brand co-founder Alan Foster of embezzling millions of dollars from Lonzo Ball.
That drove a wedge deep into the relationship between LaVar and his oldest and youngest sons, Lonzo and LaMelo. The two have since not committed to the future of Big Baller Brand, often being spotted in other brands for much of the last year.
Despite being the one responsible for bringing Foster into the family, LaVar does not feel guilty about the matter. In a recent interview with Fox Sports Australia, Ball talked about the matter.
“I don’t feel guilty at all. You can profit on so much stuff he took, or whatever, (but) we relaunching; we’re gonna have a new site. You can go to that and try to sell that stuff. After you sell all of that, then what? It’s fake. Nobody wants it. We’ve got our own thing going on with the Big Baller Brand and the original stuff, and that’s what we’re doing.”
The brand did have something resembling a soft relaunch in Australia recently. Though the company has talked about a more full-scale relaunch, nothing appears imminent.
The reason for that is neither Lonzo nor LaMelo, as previously mentioned, have committed to the brand going forward. In particular, LaMelo has been approached about launching his own brand within Big Baller Brand, similar to Lonzo’s ZO2 line, but has been hesitant to do so.
Still, LaVar showed confidence in his sons signing with the company and staying with the brand moving forward.
“I anticipate all my sons signing with Big Baller Brand. You don’t really have to sign with me; they’re already with me. Whether they do something else on their own, that’s them too. Either you’re gonna learn the hard way, or you’re gonna do it my way and understand there’s a reason I said (to) come in this league with your own brand, and do your own thing.”
In an episode of the family Facebook show “Ball in the Family” last season, Lonzo noted that he would give LaVar a year to get the brand going and succeeding again. Roughly six months into that timeline, LaVar hasn’t shown much progress to warrant Lonzo and LaMelo to commit to the company going forward.
But, to no one’s surprise, that hasn’t stopped LaVar and his unbridled, often unwarranted confidence.