Lonzo Ball has now played summer league games in Nike, Adidas and Under Armour shoes rather than his $495 a pop signature Big Baller Z02 Prime kicks.
Those happen to be the same three brands that laughed at Lonzo's dad LaVar's demands that they buck a billion to partner with Big Baller.
LaVar explained why Lonzo's been rocking the competition kicks.
“Oh you can do that all day just so you can have something to write about,” LaVar told ESPN. “That boy can play barefoot and do the same thing. He’s just letting them know he can play in any shoe he feels like. That’s how that Big Baller Brand roll. We’ve got that independence. We don’t have to be strapped down. You know how many players want to do that?”Additionally, LaVar told ESPN's business reporter Darren Rovell that his son's shoe choice was “making a statement to the brands of what they could have had with an open mind."
[Related: Sales figures for Lonzo Ball's Z02 released.]
Lonzo has been quite good in his new sneaks -- if you ignore his shooting percentage and the level of competition.
Do you think LaVar's latest gambit will get Big Baller a big brand partner?