It’s official: We now live in a world where a high school basketball player has his own signature shoe. Well, a high school-aged basketball player, that is. ESPN’s Darren Rovell isn’t so sure LaMelo Ball will be counted as an amateur athlete much longer:
The Big Baller Brand — the company started by LaMelo’s dad, LaVar — released LaMelo’s shoe on Thursday, the same day a new reality show about the Ball family debuted on Facebook. Synergy at its finest!
https://twitter.com/bigballerbrand/status/903299440349396992
And the sneakers are a bargain. Well, compared to the signature show of his older brother, Lonzo, who was recently taken by the Los Angeles Lakers with the second pick of the NBA draft. Lonzo’s shoes go for $495, while LaMelo’s are priced at $395. No, we’re not making this up.
Rovell added this about LaMelo’s potential ineligibility:
LaMelo Ball is a high school junior at Chino Hills (Calif.). He verbally committed to play at UCLA, where Lonzo played one season, when he was just 13. The middle Ball brother, LiAngelo, is an incoming freshman at UCLA this year, but he doesn’t have his own signature shoe. Yet.