Why The Ball Family Is Great For Basketball
LaVar Ball has received a considerable amount of criticism for his outlandish comments and actions, but they’re all done out of love and support for his children.
I have watched the last two seasons of The Bachelor. In this season of The Bachelorette, I’m rooting for Rachel Lindsay to find love. I grew up in the MTV era that focused on reality shows rather than music, and have even gone on a date with an unnamed reality star.
But, the best reality television out there? The Ball family. You know why?
Because, this is actual reality.
One year ago, Lonzo Ball was getting ready to step onto the UCLA campus as a freshman with one thing in mind: success. Lonzo came out of Chino Hills High School after one of the most storied high school careers ever. He had a clear path to become the next one-and-done prospect to briefly stop over in Westwood for a season.
While we knew that Lonzo’s game was something special — a 6-foot-5 point guard who saw the floor like Chris Paul does in NBA 2K with all the sliders down — it was tough to imagine him having the impact he does right now on the future of basketball. The surprise character who served as a catalyst for stardom during this college basketball season was Lonzo’s father — LaVar.
We all know about the bold statements LaVar has made to the press over the last few months. We’ve heard about wildly hopeful comparisons for his son. We’ve heard about gaudy potential sponsorship offers turned away in the belief of the Big Baller Brand, and we’ve seen LaVar make outlandish statements about being able to beat Michael Jordan on the court during his prime.
Sports media and tabloids love to turn around LaVar’s quotes and paint the picture of some selfish, egotistical father who is eating up the spotlight. Instead, I urge people to see the other side of LaVar. We should look at the father who believes in his sons to no end and is willing to put all his faith, time, energy and even his own professional success into getting his family’s name in the bright lights.
For those who may be unfamiliar, LaVar decided to create his own company centered around his family: Big Baller Brand. While unorthodox, the brand was established without the help of any of the major players in the sneaker industry, such as Nike, Adidas or Under Armour. The traditional route for players to get their own shoe line is to sign with one of these companies and, through their success, have their own brand licensed under the parent company. That may be the way Michael Jordan did it, but it won’t be the way LaVar and co. do it.
In a recent string of interviews, LaVar has famously said that the success of the shoe is not based on money or units sold. Instead, success to the Ball family is based on their own definitions of happiness. Poppa Ball has even gone as far to say that seeing his son get the chance to play in the NBA while wearing a pair of his own shoes is enough success for him. While executives like Phil Knight may laugh at this definition of success, the compassionate NBA fan and common citizen in general, should find a little happiness from this. The media may choose to overlook these statements, but, make no mistake, they’re out there. Above all else, LaVar is a truly loving father.
When analysts pick apart the family and question how their relationship with the media has gotten to this place, people forget that each of the three boys have had opportunities to speak up for anything they’re uncomfortable with. On numerous occasions, the Ball brothers have been asked about their father’s comments and have had nothing but support for him. In turn, LaVar has gone out and said that he isn’t going to control anything beyond his own career.
In a recent video episode with Complex’s Joe La Puma, LaVar said that he would never hold back Lonzo from signing with a top shoe company. Instead, Lonzo said that he wanted to create his own shoe. He wanted to be part of his family’s brand, and he wanted to support his dad’s vision.
People will always try to paint LaVar as the villain due to his loud personality and his aggressive demeanor, but that doesn’t make him one. Instead, he has given us the chance to sit back and enjoy entertainment like we’ve never had in the NBA from a guy who’s never even worn an NBA jersey before.
This is like the time when DeMario’s girlfriend walked in on The Bachelorette to expose DeMario in front of national television. The ultimate dark horse in entertainment! The Ball family has a lot of personality, and LaVar is just happy to take the slack for it.
The Ball family can integrate themselves into the daily lives of NBA fans because of the success on the court. This upcoming basketball season, we will be ready to watch Lonzo take his talents to the sport’s greatest stage, see LiAngelo try and create his own legacy as a freshman at UCLA and continue to pick apart young LaMelo’s game at the high school level (though he’s already put up some pretty incredible stat lines). Off the court, we get a chance to watch an entirely new business model unfold for us the same way we yearn to see how business ventures in the hit show Shark Tank progress. If they ever created a version of Hard Knocks for the NBA, I would be devastated if it didn’t have cutaways to LaVar Ball with his sons in the background laughing.
The real reason why the Ball family is so good for the NBA doesn’t come from what they can show us or give us. Really, the Ball family is so good for the NBA for what they can teach us. They can teach us about unity through thick and thin. They can teach us about reinvesting in yourself and seeing a bigger picture even with some risk involved. And above all, they can teach us about the identity of a league that has become so monetized and so materialized that we sometimes neglect the personalities that come out when dreams are being achieved.
Hate him or love him, LaVar and the Ball family truly don’t care. All that matters to them is that people know who they are. As Lonzo Ball gets ready for the NBA Draft that he hopes will land him back home in LaLa Land where the lights are the brightest, LaVar has nothing but love to give to his son. Lonzo has a chance to be something very special in this league, but that only starts on the court. No matter what, he won’t be doing it alone, as he has two brothers with the same mission and a father who has infinitely strong support for his children.
