Los Angeles Lakers: Will Big Baller Brand survive?

Will the Big Baller Brand survive without Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball?

The recent news of Ball family associate, Alan Foster, stealing $1.5 million from Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball was earth-shattering considering the staggering amount in such little time.

How did we get to this point? How was Foster, a close friend of the family, able to siphon close to $2 million under the family’s nose? At this time, no one knows for sure, but the fate of Big Baller Brand was rumored to be a dire one until recently when a light was shined upon the brand at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

During an interview with KLUC 98.5 based in Las Vegas, Ball family Patriarch Lavar shed light on the latest developments with BBB.

"“I’m not gonna let one roodypoo guy come in here and do something bad and then be like the brand’s not good,” Ball said. “The brand is good. It’s just somebody did something bad to it … We had a snake up in the thing, but you gotta understand this — I’m a snake charmer. When you’re a snake charmer, you’re gonna get bit.”"

With that said there’s even reported tension between Lavar Ball and his three sons.

With rumors flying high that the brand was ending, speculation was also fueled by Lonzo Ball, who at this current time owns 51% of Big Baller Brand, when he took to Instagram with the following post which to some indicated a possible move to Nike.

Lakers teammate LeBron James, who was recently shut down for the remaining 6 games of the NBA season, recently indicated that he’d love having Lonzo be a part of the Nike family seemingly endorsing such a move.

"“Whatever the kid decides to do, whatever brand he comes with next — if it’s with Nike, obviously we would welcome him,” James told The Los Angeles Times. “I would definitely welcome him. I love the kid regardless of what shoes he had on. But we shall see.”"

The firing of Foster was the first step in the rebuilding of Ball, who was clearly affected by the situation, having released his own statement on the matter.

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"“Recently, I became aware that Alan is a convicted felon who used his access to my business and personal finances to enrich himself,” the statement read. “As a result, I have decided to sever all ties with him effective immediately. I have directed Humble [Lukanga, his financial advisor], Harrison [Gaines, his agent] and Darren [Moore, his manager] and the rest of my team of advisers to pursue all options to recover the money that was taken from my accounts. This has been a very difficult decision as I have a great deal of love and respect for Alan. But the time has come for me to take responsibility for my own career.”"

Now the time is right for the Ball family to take responsibility for the Big Baller Brand and reposition it as an alternative to established sports apparel brands.

If Lonzo departs, BBB would be hurt, but there is another who can carry the torch in the form of LaMelo. “Melo” could quite possibly take the brand to a level that Lonzo had yet to reach before the recent scandal rocked the brand.

Melo has the “sauce” that could skyrocket the brand to new heights considering that he has a medium that not even LeBron James had at that stage in his development, which is social media.

With a popular show on Facebook and a combined huge following on Twitter and Instagram, Melo could and should become the new face of Big Baller Brand.

With that said, the move would allow Lonzo to jump ship to Nike, who had interest in the elder Ball sibling when he played at UCLA and was entering the NBA draft two summers ago.

Despite the endorsement of Big Baller Brand not being a complete show of family unity, the splitting of endorsements can and will set the Ball family up for an even brighter future.

Big Baller Brand can still survive and grow and the legacy of Lonzo will have the validity of the Nike brand behind him. Fanboy scrutiny aside, those in the know, those who understand the mechanics of the game of basketball, understand that Lonzo is special and will only get better and that will give credence to anything else that the Ball family decides to do.

Drop your comments below and let us know how you feel. Will Big Baller Brand survive? I for one think so!