Lonzo Ball: Is the Big Baller Brand business going bad?

Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball has been in the news recently as the Big Baller Brand has ran into some trouble.

Lonzo Ball hasn’t been seen in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform since his severe ankle injury suffered against the Houston Rockets back on January 19th. It marked the third recent ankle injury for the one time future of the franchise.

For the second straight year, it seems that Lonzo Ball will miss a major chunk of the season that he will not finish due to leg issues. In his rookie year, it was all about knee injuries that required surgery in the offseason.

Situations like this can get Lonzo the infamous injury-prone reputation that can stay with NBA players throughout their careers. The investigation of the possible causes of Lonzo Ball injury woes may have a possible conflict with his business ventures.

Some people, including some around the Lakers organization, are starting to quote Spike Lee aka Mars Blackmon in the late 80s.

“Money…It’s gotta be the shoes!”

Lonzo Ball talked about their concerns in an interview with ESPN..

"“Yeah, they talked to me,” Lonzo Ball told ESPN two weeks ago. “They asked me about it, and I told ’em, ‘I feel comfortable. If I wasn’t comfortable, I wouldn’t play in ’em. If I didn’t play in [his signature BBB shoes], I’d play in Kobe [Bryant’s signature Nike shoe]. I work out in [LeBron James’ signature Nike shoe], but that’s because they’re heavier.” Lonzo also said he told the Lakers he was open to making adjustments — “just minor things,” he said — to his Big Baller Brand shoes if needed."

Basketball shoes are an ever booming lucrative business with Nike leading the way thanks to the guy Mars Blackmon was talking to when he saying his famous quote, Michael Jordan. Air Jordans transcended the marketing brand to the level we all know today. It’s amazing that Jordan almost didn’t do a deal with Nike coming out of college.

Since he didn’t use the swoosh brand in college, he did not want to play in Nikes. It was his agent, David Falk, and his mother that convinced him to have a business meeting with the company. Billions of dollars later, we all realize that Michael Jordan made a good business decision.

Lonzo Ball is trying to carve his own niche playing in shoes from a company that he reportedly owns 51 percent of. With the Big Baller Brand fledgling behind Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, Puma and even New Balance, who locked up major stars to wear their shoes, it would be in Ball’s best interest to showcase the shoes playing in a Lakers uniform. Best for business, right?

Well, it seems that business in the Big Baller Brand world is starting to have major financial issues.

Lonzo Ball is working to sever ties completely with one of the co-founders of the Big Baller Brand, Alan Foster, with his father LaVar Ball after $1.5 million dollars in business and personal accounts have not been accounted for. This fact came to light according to an ESPN article headed up by Ramona Shelburne and Paula Lavigne.

It is believed that Alan Foster who owns roughly 16 percent of the Big Baller Brand company has misappropriated funds for his personal gain.

A friend of the family with total access to their trust

Alan Foster was the financial manager to all of the Ball family business ventures since 2014. Foster and Lonzo’s father, LaVar, were friends for close to a decade and Lonzo was friends with Foster’s son since the seventh grade.

According to ESPN, it was Foster that convinced LaVar to build a brand around all of his sons instead of Lonzo accepting a multi-million dollar deal by himself from established shoe companies that were reportedly interested like Nike and Adidas.

Plans like these rarely work out, especially for a rookie coming out of college. With Lonzo Ball in his rookie contract, it was not the greatest of ideas to put his own money into the business without established investors. The last time a player tried to do a business venture like this was former NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury.

Marbury started his own line called Starbury to sell shoes and clothing at a reasonable price for all consumers to enjoy. The price to the shoes was something sneakerhead historians could never forget; $14.99.

Marbury wanted to make a difference when shoe prices skyrocketed to the point people were getting robbed and even killed. He had good intentions until his investors bailed and he got hit with a $16 million dollar bank lien by then bank Wachovia.

But even then, Marbury was an established NBA All-Star with a previous shoe contract with And-1. Couple that with a huge NBA contract, his situation looked at the time like a good business decision. The failure of the business venture along with his NBA career coming to a crashing end sent Marbury into a deep state of depression.

Lonzo Ball’s situation was doomed to fail from the start in comparison.

Remember those ridiculous prices for the first shoes that came out under the Big Baller Brand? If anyone remembers the internet went nuts when LaVar Ball announced the launch of the new shoe with the price of close to $500 dollars a pair.

Naturally, when the shoes didn’t sell as well, so the price dropped down to $200 a pair. The lack of success shows the lack of homework on potential sales based on that price range.

That wasn’t the only time LaVar and the Ball family failed to do the homework ESPN apparently did on their business manager.

It seems that Alan Foster was arrested, convicted and sentenced to jail for one count of mail fraud and two counts of money laundering scamming people out of millions back in 2002. He spent around seven years in jail, plus was ordered to pay restitution to the victims as part of the sentence.

Lonzo Ball took the information from ESPN and starting investigating the history of Foster and the story was corroborated, he broke immediate business ties with Foster.

The common narrative we all can relate to: Uncle Sam!

According to ESPN reports, the Ball family’s financial adviser warned the family in an email that their taxes could not be finished based on the fact that $1.5 million dollars had to be accounted for first. That warning was given in October.

LaVar Ball did not deal with that situation until recently due to the fact that he was overseas dealing with his sons playing in Lithuania. Despite constant inquiries about the situation from Lonzo asking to check into the matter, LaVar got to the matter too late.

Some more tax issues were brought into question by Lonzo Ball’s personal manager related to the family’s Facebook reality show, “Ball in the Family”, which Foster was seen on in multiple episodes.

One of those episodes could easily be used as evidence in the court of law if Foster is indicted on charges. Foster was seen consulting LaVar Ball in a discussion why the players in Ball’s startup basketball league had not gotten paid.

Here’s an example of one player’s problems.

Now to put this proper perspective, LaVar Ball wanted to start an alternative basketball league under the Big Baller Brand umbrella. With this being a pro league, if any of the players participated, they automatically lose their eligibility with the NCAA to play college ball.

Foster has started doing the same practice Brandon Phillips is talking about with ESPN when they tried to speak with him about the allegations. Foster’s whereabouts are unknown as of this writing.

What’s next for Lonzo?…The Lakers?…Big Baller Brand?

Lonzo Ball made it crystal clear in a statement to ESPN that he is severing ties with his Big Baller Brand co-founder because in his words, his former business manager,

"“used his access to my business and personal finances to enrich himself. As a result, I have decided to sever all ties with Alan, effective immediately.”"

Lonzo’s father, LaVar had a statement as well.

"“I’ve always believed in the best in people,” the statement reads. “Regretfully, I put my complete trust in Alan Foster to manage my son’s business affairs. At the end of the day, family comes first, and I support Zo wholeheartedly. Together, we will make this right.”"

Well, it’s not going to be that simple. First the company, more importantly, Alan, has to answer the $1.5 million dollar question to start the process of making things right.

Where’s the money? But the troubles don’t end there.

The company had numerous complaints from customers that were unhappy with their services rendered. The company was turned into the Better Business Bureau who received a less than favorable rating last year.

It got so bad, the Lakers inquired about the issues and complaints about the Big Baller Brand company from the BBB. Now the Federal Trade Commission is reportedly involved.

NBA fans sometimes don’t realize how the business of basketball works. Lonzo Ball is the starting point guard of the Los Angeles Lakers. But he is also an employee to one of 30 companies under a bigger company called the National Basketball Association. Those big contracts these players sign more than likely have clauses that prohibit activities that can make the league look bad.

This situation could apply.

Los Angeles Lakers fans all over are hoping that Lonzo Ball gets healthy and back on the court. I hope that the Big Baller Brand takes care of its business and gets the finances taken care of.

Right now, that’s more important, trust me.