Nike Adidas and Under Armour Tell Lavar Ball To Pound Sand

#1

Lawrence Wright

Troll Brother #1
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#1
His 15 minutes are almost up....

An endorsement deal with Nike, Under Armour or Adidas is not in the cards for Lonzo Ball.

Ball's father LaVar confirmed that the three shoe and apparel companies informed him that they were not interested in doing a deal with his son. Sources with the three companies told ESPN.com that they indeed were moving on.

Never in the history of modern day shoe endorsements have the big companies all stepped away from a potential top pick nearly two months before the NBA draft. But the proposition that LaVar, who has been representing Lonzo on the deal, was offering also has no precedence.

In his meetings with the three, LaVar insisted that the company license his upstart Big Baller Brand from him. He also showed the companies a shoe prototype that he hoped would be Lonzo's first shoe.

"We've said from the beginning, we aren't looking for an endorsement deal," LaVar told ESPN. "We're looking for co-branding, a true partner. But they're not ready for that because they're not used to that model. But hey, the taxi industry wasn't ready for Uber, either."

Last week, Nike consultant George Raveling, at SportsBusinessJournal's World Congress of Sports called LaVar "the worst thing to happen to basketball in the last hundred years."


The way LaVar sees it, Raveling's comment is indicative of what business people who have long been in business say when the way of doing things is changed.

"Just imagine how rich Tiger (Woods), Kobe (Bryant), Serena (Williams), (Michael) Jordan and LeBron (James) would have been if they dared to do their own thing," LaVar said. "No one owned their own brand before they turned pro. We do and I have three sons so it's that much more valuable."

Lonzo declared for the draft after one season at UCLA. LaVar's other sons have also committed to UCLA, including LiAngelo, who arrives on campus this year and LaMelo, who just finished his sophomore season in high school.

Ball would not disclose how big the Big Baller Brand has become -- the company sells hats and t-shirts ranging from $38 to $100 on its website -- but he said that current sales numbers shouldn't have been on the mind of the shoe companies.

"When Facebook bought Whatsapp for $19 billion, those guys weren't profitable," LaVar said.

Now that the traditional shoe companies are out, Ball said he will reach out to the Chinese brands, which include Peak, Li-Ning and Anta, and he's not counting out taking on an entrepreneurial partner outside the business.

"That includes Facebook," he said.

Ball said he did indeed have a shoe prototype for Lonzo's first shoe.

"We're not going to sign with a company and then wait around for five or six years for shoe like Paul George had to wait for with Nike," Ball said.

When asked how long he has been working on the design of Lonzo's shoe, Ball said it was "a long time."
Added Ball: "I've been working on that shoe ever since my boys were born."
 
#3
#3
"Just imagine how rich Tiger (Woods), Kobe (Bryant), Serena (Williams), (Michael) Jordan and LeBron (James) would have been if they dared to do their own thing," LaVar said. "No one owned their own brand before they turned pro. We do and I have three sons so it's that much more valuable."


Yes because these people aren't rich at all. LaVar is a moron.
 
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#4
#4
"Just imagine how rich Tiger (Woods), Kobe (Bryant), Serena (Williams), (Michael) Jordan and LeBron (James) would have been if they dared to do their own thing," LaVar said. "No one owned their own brand before they turned pro. We do and I have three sons so it's that much more valuable."


Yes because these people aren't rich at all. LaVar is a moron.

Every now and then, a moron showing up on the scene is good theater during a crash and burn. :popcorn:
 
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#5
#5
This guy is a train wreck. LA Gear or Fila might be willing to co-brand with Lavar. He might even want to pitch his idea to Starbury.
 
#8
#8
Man, this guy lives in a fantasy world!

"Everybody who comes into the league, Nike or Adidas gives them an endorsement deal," Ball told us at the time. "I don’t want an endorsement deal. That’s nothing. They’ll make you wear the shoe for $2 million, $3 million a year or even if they give you $100 million for 10 years, they think they’re doing something for you. But yet, they’re making $2 billion, $3 billion on the product per year, so that’s like pennies. That’s nothing. That’s crumbs."

It took me all of 5 seconds to get on Yahoo Finance and determine that Under Armour's Net Income for the entire year was about $200 million.

$2 billion on one product, LOL. They're making about 1/10 of that on ALL of their products COMBINED!

Take the $3 million per year and don't look back. There aren't many people on Earth who can earn $3 million per year simply by wearing a pair of shoes!
 
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#10
#10
"Just imagine how rich Tiger (Woods), Kobe (Bryant), Serena (Williams), (Michael) Jordan and LeBron (James) would have been if they dared to do their own thing," LaVar said. "No one owned their own brand before they turned pro. We do and I have three sons so it's that much more valuable."


Yes because these people aren't rich at all. LaVar is a moron.

I love how he tries to use some of the greatest athletes in their sport as an example. His kid hasn't played 1 minute in the NBA yet deserves the same comparison.

This guy is going to hurt his kids more than help them. He needs to back away and let this kid get paid. His days as a ball player are over, quit living vicariously through them
 
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#11
#11
I don't like a lot of comments that he makes, but he understands the power of ownership and wants to have that for his family.

I am for anyone who is tired of being exploited (even though Nike will pay you millions
to wear their brand, you will make them hundreds of millions/billions) and want a bigger piece of the pie.

It's the same thing as the NCAA making billions off the backs of student-athletes

Lavar Ball I bought 3 shirts from your store...I get it
 
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#13
#13
I don't like a lot of comments that he makes, but he understands the power of ownership and wants to have that for his family.

I am for anyone who is tired of being exploited (even though Nike will pay you millions
to wear their brand, you will make them hundreds of millions/billions) and want a bigger piece of the pie.

It's the same thing as the NCAA making billions off the backs of student-athletes

Except it's actually not the same at all.

The NCAA allows schools to basically pay athletes tuition, even if their economic value to the university is over $2 million. Leonard Fournette is a great example; no way he wasn't worth more than $2 mil to LSU over the past few years.

Whereas, a shoe company pays a guy $2 million to endorse their products regardless of whether that guy ends up being worth $0 or $5 million. The point being, the shoe company is the one taking the risks.

Running a business is a risk and a lot of work. Getting paid $2 million to wear a pair of sneakers is really about as easy as it gets.

People think "running a business" is great. And it does have some advantages, but it's also a lot of pain and risk involved. Endorsing a shoe with an established business that already knows how to profit off of shoes is a no-brainer.

You know what's going to happen ... he's going to end up partnering with some 2nd or 3rd tier shoe company. He'll get part of the profits and he'll suddenly find out that selling shoes with a 3rd tier vendor isn't nearly as profitable as being an endorser for Nike, Under Armour, or Adidas. Maybe they scrape out $100 or $200K, which is good for a small business, but bad when you consider he could've had $2 million w/ none of the heartache.

Take all that money Nike is throwing at you and then start a business 10 or 15 years from now.
 
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#14
#14
"Just imagine how rich Tiger (Woods), Kobe (Bryant), Serena (Williams), (Michael) Jordan and LeBron (James) would have been if they dared to do their own thing," LaVar said. "No one owned their own brand before they turned pro. We do and I have three sons so it's that much more valuable."


Yes because these people aren't rich at all. LaVar is a moron.

LOL. Jordan is the world's first billionaire athlete, but imagine how rich he'd be if he "did his own thing?"
 
#15
#15
Maybe LaVar could see if ITZ wants to start back up.
 

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#21
#21
People like this think they're geniuses. They think it's very simple. I hope he does indeed do his own thing. Then he'll get to:
Pay to design the shoe
Pay to source materials
Pay a manufacturer to make the shoe
Pay for logistics/distribution
Pay for marketing
Pay employees to do all of the above
Pay the govt 35% of whatever's left

After all that he can give his son the billions he deserves.
 
#23
#23
People like this think they're geniuses. They think it's very simple. I hope he does indeed do his own thing. Then he'll get to:
Pay to design the shoe
Pay to source materials
Pay a manufacturer to make the shoe
Pay for logistics/distribution
Pay for marketing
Pay employees to do all of the above
Pay the govt 35% of whatever's left

After all that he can give his son the billions he deserves.

He was hoping Nike Adidas or Under Armor would pay for all that.
 
#24
#24
People like this think they're geniuses. They think it's very simple. I hope he does indeed do his own thing. Then he'll get to:
Pay to design the shoe
Pay to source materials
Pay a manufacturer to make the shoe
Pay for logistics/distribution
Pay for marketing
Pay employees to do all of the above
Pay the govt 35% of whatever's left

After all that he can give himself the billions he thinks he deserves.

Fyp
 

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