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I doubt many people reading this woke up this morning and thought, “Whatever happened to the guy who started Big Baller Brand with LaVar Ball?” However, if that was somehow the case, you now have an answer thanks to a lawsuit that was recently filed against Puma and a few members of the family who tried to make the brand A Thing.
It’s hard to believe it’s been around seven years since the world was introduced to LaVar Ball, the boisterous, attention-seeking patriarch of the three sons (Lonzo, LiAngelo, and LaMelo) who he swore were poised to take the NBA by storm.
LaVar played college basketball and tried to make it as a tight end in the NFL before turning his attention to his family, and it was pretty clear he was trying to live vicariously through the offspring he hyped up with hyperbolic praise while playing the basketball media world like a fiddle.
He may have been fairly insufferable, but it was hard to knock his hustle, as he also used his time in the spotlight to draw attention to Big Baller Brand, the shoe and apparel company he co-founded with a guy named Alan Foster.
However, their attempts to turn it into an empire left a bit to be desired thanks to prohibitively high prices that didn’t appear to be a testament to the quality of the sneakers that routinely fell apart when Lonzo Ball rocked them during basketball games.
LaMelo got his own signature BBB shoe in 2017, but it was hard to blame him for inking a deal with Puma in 2021 after firmly cementing himself as the most talented Ball brother. That year, the company launched what was dubbed the “MB.01″—a development that apparently did not go over well with Foster.
According to TMZ Sports, the Big Baller Brand co-founder recently filed a lawsuit against Puma as well as LaMelo, LaVar, and matriarch Tina Ball for allegedly infringing on the trademarks he secured while developing a sneaker for the youngest member of the family during his time with BBB.
Foster claims LaVar attempted to cut him out of the picture by transferring the trademarks to another company that was essentially a carbon copy of Big Baller Brand and asserts Puma stepped on his turf with the name that was given to LaMelo’s signature shoe.
The outlet reports Foster believes he’s owed more than $200 million as a result, so it’s safe to assume the defendants will be pushing back against the accusations.