LaVar Ball is gambling on his son in a big way.
During an interview with Dan Patrick, ESPN’s Darren Rovell revealed LaVar Ball turned down a $10 million shoe deal because he believes “Big Baller Brand is going to turn out to be the next big thing in sports apparel.
It’s strange to me that LaVar didn’t at least fold some of his cards and go back to the shoe companies in earnest,” The original deals that Nike and Adidas were going to offer were 5 years/ $10 million. $2 million a year “After the Lakers thing goes down and the perfect scenario is going to unfold, the new deal, Nike (to) five years and $20 million. But what does LaVar Ball do? Instead of saying he now wants $1 billion, he now wants $3 billion.
“I guess the story becomes more intriguing in that if he goes to the Lakers, he could’ve doubled his deal and decided to pass. And I think that’s why this story is something people want to read. It makes the story a lot more intriguing in that he’s continuing to go along with the fact he believes this is going to be a real brand.
It’s incredible that LaVar’s initial gamble to not immediately sign Lonzo to a deal probably doubled his son’s worth to the shoe companies when the Lakers got the #2 pick. Maybe LaVar knows what he’s doing and Lonzo is better off with his own brand in the long run. We’ll have to wait and see how it all shakes out.