ESPN: LaVar Ball pulls son LiAngelo Ball out of UCLA

What a disaster. Dude probably played in front of more people when he was in HS. Idc who he is, he is gonna get eaten alive over there. The shoplifter isn't even that good, he was there because UCLA wanted his two brothers
 

We've heard that Lavar moves are brilliant and calculated. I am not seeing the logic in signing with the Lithuanian club team.

yea this does not seem like a great situation. I'd assume there were better options out there for Melo alone
 

They'll be making $$$ and developing against men while 16-22 year olds here are forced to dink around as free labor in High School and NCAA (where MOST of the competition doesn't prepare you for men's pro ball).

Nice move.
 

I think if Liangelo wanted to leave UCLA after everything went down, he would have been better served to finish up the semester there and get his credits, transfer to a UC-Irvine type of team, get his degree there and play professionally somewhere overseas after he graduates and has developed further.

Not sure about Lamelo.
 

They'll be making $$$ and developing against men while 16-22 year olds here are forced to dink around as free labor in High School and NCAA (where MOST of the competition doesn't prepare you for men's pro ball).

Nice move.

They went to a terrible team that isn't even in the Euroleague and wont even get to play in the main league. Sounds like they will exclusively play only in the Baltic league, whatever the heck that is.

They also don't "make money". They make way less than even a part time job at McDonalds.

Jonathan Givony

@DraftExpress
Replying to @DraftExpress
From what I'm told, salaries for players at this level of competition usually don't exceed $500 per month in the absolute best case. It wouldn't surprise me if the Ball brothers ended up playing for free. Certainly not the most glamorous league or part of the world to live in.

Then this

Simonas Baranauskas
@LithuaniaBasket
From ESPN: "The team has no GM and doesn't practice regularly due to the poor financial situation."

That is not correct. Might not always run the hard-nosed two-a-day usual for European hoops but 'doesn't practice regularly' & 'due to poor financial situation' is tall tales.

Then the club outright said that signing the Ball's was a publicity stunt.
Then the fact that they are located in a village of 10,000 people.

LaVar screwed his sons. They basically got sent to Siberia.
 


People envy successful people that conjure up the unicorn life of big success while living life by their own rules. Many successful people are forced to "sell out" or pander in some way, shape or form to reach the heights they do. This is essentially aligning under someone else's vision rather than creating your own world (like working for a company vs. creating your own company). The success and fame is nice - but deep down you still have that gut regret of not being true to yourself.

People like BBB or Mayweather make some personal mistakes and they make some bad business moves, but at the end of the day they still roll in the cash while maintaining the most important source of pride: having/keeping a spine.

From big time pundits on ESPN to small time forum posters - the greater than usual disdain for BBB is an interesting study.

BBB is winning. EVERYONE Is talking about the Ball fam and brand. Not saying it'll be the next Nike, but they're still winning in life waaaaaay more than losing while the average dude is just trying to keep their record over .500 in the game of life.
 

People envy successful people that conjure up the unicorn life of big success while living life by their own rules. Many successful people are forced to "sell out" or pander in some way, shape or form to reach the heights they do. This is essentially aligning under someone else's vision rather than creating your own world (like working for a company vs. creating your own company). The success and fame is nice - but deep down you still have that gut regret of not being true to yourself.

People like BBB or Mayweather make some personal mistakes and they make some bad business moves, but at the end of the day they still roll in the cash while maintaining the most important source of pride: having/keeping a spine.

From big time pundits on ESPN to small time forum posters - the intense disdain for BBB is an interesting study.

No, it's the fact that it's a clown show and people think it's a great idea because Mr. Ball is going up against Nike, Adidas, Reebok, etc.
 

They'll be making $$$ and developing against men while 16-22 year olds here are forced to dink around as free labor in High School and NCAA (where MOST of the competition doesn't prepare you for men's pro ball).

Nice move.

No, no it is not a nice move.
 

No, it's the fact that it's a clown show and people think it's a great idea because Mr. Ball is going up against Nike, Adidas, Reebok, etc.

BBB is looking to compete in the luxury brand market, not the nike/adidas market.
 



I'm guessing that LaMelo is going to wish he had his high school diploma after his playing career flames out. Even if he does develop into an NBA caliber player, will anyone want him on their team? I get the feeling the boys will be treated like lepers because of their father.
 


yea this does not seem like a great situation. I'd assume there were better options out there for Melo alone

Yeah you would have thought there were better options somewhere. The bigger problem than virtually no pay or exposure is that it doesn't sound like an environment that your game is going to develop in.

My college roommate played overseas after school. He eventually made it to a Portuguese team with nice crowds and a very nice salary, but his first stop was in a professional league in Luxembourg and he said it was "professional" only in the sense that you receive some compensation for playing. He said the level of competition was probably consistently worse than a competitive rec league here in the States. The Balls league sounds kind of like this.
 

Yeah you would have thought there were better options somewhere. The bigger problem than virtually no pay or exposure is that it doesn't sound like an environment that your game is going to develop in.

My college roommate played overseas after school. He eventually made it to a Portuguese team with nice crowds and a very nice salary, but his first stop was in a professional league in Luxembourg and he said it was "professional" only in the sense that you receive some compensation for playing. He said the level of competition was probably consistently worse than a competitive rec league here in the States. The Balls league sounds kind of like this.

I'm saddened and amazed by this entire situation. I feel bad for the Ball kids as their father is clearly using them as his own personal business platform and he's ruining their lives. Pulling kids from school to 'train' to be professional athletes in an area that doesn't speak their language is a clear path to disaster. They're giving up their youth to fulfill their blowhard father's dreams and the net result will likely be regret and failure.

I also feel for this poor team that agreed to sign the Ball kids. While I understand that this is clearly a PR move, they have no idea the endless negative press that Lavar will dump upon them. Can you imagine a month from now when they aren't getting any playing time and performing horribly? I'm sure Lavar will chalk that up as a growing experience and not blaming the team for not using his sons correctly. He would never do that, right?
 



yea this does not seem like a great situation. I'd assume there were better options out there for Melo alone

Not great, but probably an ok move for Liangelo. But including Melo in the package deal is really messed up... He had several better options.
 

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Go Gophers!!
 

Why play for free against high schoolers when you can develop against men and pocket a little $?
 

BBB is looking to compete in the luxury brand market, not the nike/adidas market.

LOL! Nobody takes BBB seriously. It's a stupid brand name backed by an idiot who is screwing over his talented children. When they fade into obscurity....so does the brand. Lavar will still be around.....but he'll be more of a Gary Busey type. We know you're crazy and we're not buying anything from you.
 

Why play for free against high schoolers when you can develop against men and pocket a little $?

Why forgo a free education and massive exposure at a high level basketball college in order to pocket a little $? I can think of a few ways. $$$$$$$$$$$
 

Why forgo a free education and massive exposure at a high level basketball college in order to pocket a little $? I can think of a few ways. $$$$$$$$$$$

Who says pro basketball players want college educations?
 

Why play for free against high schoolers when you can develop against men and pocket a little $?

Very little money from the sounds of it. More importantly, the competition does not sound like it is going to hone their skills. I mean the goal is not to be a Lithuanian basketball professional basketball player is it? Playing against top level American High Schoolers would further the ultimate goal much better.
 


Absence will expose how much we all love them deep down. ;)
 

They are making $500 per month. Thats $6,000/yr (assuming they get paid for the entire year, which they don't). Lets say they went to UCLA. I don't know what tuition is but I'll assuming $30k. That is $120k in education over 4 years. In those same years they will make $24,000 (again, assuming they get paid the entire year, which they don't)

The exposure of a league no one has ever heard of is not helping either.
 

They are making $500 per month. Thats $6,000/yr (assuming they get paid for the entire year, which they don't). Lets say they went to UCLA. I don't know what tuition is but I'll assuming $30k. That is $120k in education over 4 years. In those same years they will make $24,000 (again, assuming they get paid the entire year, which they don't)

The exposure of a league no one has ever heard of is not helping either.

Remember though, money isn't really the play here. They already have a great launch point with the BBB brand. As a matter of fact, they're probably all set for life with jobs in or revenue from BBB even if they quit basketball.

The audacity of the move plus the pure basketball development potential is the play.

Melo was going to be a big prospect if he stayed in HS, he'll maximize his high school age development even further with this stint against pros.
 

Remember though, money isn't really the play here. They already have a great launch point with the BBB brand. As a matter of fact, they're probably all set for life with jobs in or revenue from BBB even if they quit basketball.

The audacity of the move plus the pure basketball development potential is the play.

Melo was going to be a big prospect if he stayed in HS, he'll maximize his high school age development even further with this stint against pros.

You are making some pretty big assumptions about BBB. The brand has generated a good amount of exposure, but that doesn't mean they have been able to monetize it. I highly doubt they are close to being set for life if the sales numbers are anywhere near what they supposedly have been.
 

Remember though, money isn't really the play here. They already have a great launch point with the BBB brand. As a matter of fact, they're probably all set for life with jobs in or revenue from BBB even if they quit basketball.

The audacity of the move plus the pure basketball development potential is the play.

Melo was going to be a big prospect if he stayed in HS, he'll maximize his high school age development even further with this stint against pros.

BBB us a clown show. Lavar antics keep it alive because they're not making enough sales. Nobody will buy their knock-off Kobe's if Lonzo doesn't became a star. He's a taller crazier version of Rubio right now. Players like that don't sell shoes and northern due bench players in Lithuania JV league
 

Your right. Loads of noise but no real money in the shoes yet. Footwear news says less than 3000 pairs. It takes millions to own the dies, buy the raw material, pay the designer. It takes 60 different operations to construct a pair of shoes. The just subbed them out private label to start but right now it is the collectors, some athletes and some for the chic wanna b's. Long way to millions much less billions.
 

Isn't it exciting! LaMelo finally achieves his lifelong dream of playing basketball in Lithuania!
 

It's interesting to think about the psychology behind the outrage over them. I think it's saltiness that they can accrue wealth/fame all while marching to the beat of their own drum to such a great extent. As I mentioned earlier, usually people have to sell out in some way, shape or form. Signing with a brand, working for a company, or dedicating years of free labor basketball to NCAA/an institution are all examples of that (there are varying degrees to this obviously and I'm not judging the morality of it).

There is a lot of upside in the Ball fam trajectory. Not saying it'll play out as planned, but what's the worst that could happen?

Worst case scenario, they'll have a brand that does alright and the three boys will all making a living as adults playing hoops somewhere in the world. That worse case scenario is already a monster win.

Do panderers, pushovers and sell outs get mad when they have to look at themselves in a mirror in comparison to a BBB or other self-made hustlers? Our most valuable possession is our dignity and pride, after all.

Oh, and everyone loooooves to talk social equality, but when a person hustles and figures out a way to be creative/resourceful and rise, we demonize them? Come on!
 

Former Badger guard Ben Brust played in Lithuania, and does not think the Ball brothers will last more than a month there:

When he learned where LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball will be playing pro basketball this season, Ben Brust couldn’t help but chuckle.

The former Wisconsin guard isn’t optimistic two pampered teenagers from sun-splashed Southern California will make a smooth transition to a club based in a remotely located, snow-covered town in Lithuania.

“I think they’ll last a month maximum,” Brust said. “It seems like the worst possible place they could have picked.”

In October 2016, Brust signed with BC Pieno Zvaigždės of the Lithuanian League six months after helping lead Wisconsin to the Final Four and a few days after the Milwaukee Bucks cut him during training camp. The culture shock he experienced during his lone season in Lithuania left him more homesick than he expected.

Hardly anyone in the 7,500-person village of Pasvalys spoke English. Restaurants typically only served traditional Lithuanian dishes unrecognizable to Brust. He and American teammates Michael Dixon Jr. and Alex Oriakhi had to drive 30 to 40 minutes to the nearest big city to find a mall, a grocery store or restaurants that offered American fare.

Only the premier teams in Europe can afford the charter flights and high-end hotels that major-conference American college teams take for granted. Brust’s team bused or ferried to games in Latvia, Estonia and Finland and saved money by staying in bargain hotels. .. . .


https://sports.yahoo.com/ball-broth...says-american-played-lithuania-222233839.html
 




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