Lonzo Ball and Big Baller Brand appear headed or an ugly split. Not only does it seem like the oldest son of LaVar Ball and the former No. 2 overall pick of the Los Angeles Lakers is ready to leave the brand that he owns 50 percent of, but the Big Baller Brand as a whole could be coming to an end.
On Monday, March 25, Ball’s manager, Darren Moore aka D-Mo, filmed a video on Instagram that showed him carry a pair of Lonzo’s signature Z02 Big Baller Brand sneaker and tossing it in the trash. It was accompanied with the hashtag “dumpurmerch” which is a play on his old “Get Ur Merch” tagline to promote the clothing brand.
The video comes just after Ball parted ways with Big Baller Brand co-founder Alan Foster, who was a close friend of his father.
As it turned out, Foster has a criminal past and Ball suspects the family confidant of using Ball’s money to enrich himself. Foster had access to Ball’s finances and was unable to account for $1.5 million in missing funds.
Here is D-Mo tossing the ZO2 sneakers in the trash.
https://twitter.com/brkicks/status/1110253348299726848
Ouch.
There has also been speculation that Lonzo could be leaving Big Baller Brand for Nike and this seems like a strong indication that the move is likely to happen.
Over the weekend, Lonzo also posted a photo on his Instagram page that featured a Nike slogan with the caption, “Moving on to bigger and better #MyOwnMan.” The Nike caption was placed directly above the Nike swoosh on his Lakers jersey, furthering the speculation that the Nike move is imminent.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvXqeWnFenu/
And then, there is this: Big Baller Brand as a whole could be coming to an end.
According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com, the Ball Family has discussed folding Big Baller Brand and anything that Alan Foster was previously associated with, which could include LaVar Ball’s Junior Basketball Association (JBA).
https://twitter.com/ramonashelburne/status/1110256960765460480
This is why they say you should never mix family with business.
