(photo credit: HotNewHipHop)
by Nick Hamilton (@NickHamiltonLA)
On Wednesday the Lakers and Lonzo Ball made headwaves, for a different reason. No, it didn’t include Lonzo’s talkative and gigantic personality of a father Lavar, it had everything to do with what was on his feet.
For approximately a year, we’ve all heard about Lavar creating and trying to take his Big Baller Brand to the next level, in billions of ways. As his attempts to partner with Nike, Under Armor, and Adidas failed, Lavar decided to take his “talents” the various media circuits to promote his brand that his sons, Lonzo, LaMelo, and LiAngelo would model.
Finally Lonzo hit the NBA scene with a huge splash by being drafted by the hometown team, the Los Angeles Lakers as the second overall pick. His summer league debut was the highest anticipated in years. It was met with cheers and support, and some with hate and disdain. Not so much for the bright, faded afro wearing young man with the golden smile, but for his father who has rubbed many in NBA circles the wrong way — with his mouth!
The Summer League opening debut was a poor showing, however being the fantastic player Lonzo is, he bounced right back the next night against the Celtics with a triple double, 11 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assist.
Wednesday he continued to impress, however instead of wearing the BBB shoes that have been over hyped and overpriced by his father. Lonzo hit the court with purple Kobe AD’s by Nike. Which caught the attention of many including Lebron James, who sat court side and later commented on the shoes via social media, “Just Dot It!”.
Interesting enough, Lonzo finished with 36 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds in a 103-102 victory over the 76ers.