Why Lonzo Ball didn't get an endorsement deal with one of the big athletic shoe companies
Apparently the top athletic shoe/apparel brands (Nike, Adidas, Under Armour) are not interested in an endorsement deal with Lonzo Ball (who will likely go as the third overall pick to the Lakers in this year's NBA Draft).
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.
The reasoning (for background, LaVar Ball (Lonzo's father) has been representing him throughout the process):
In his meetings with all three companies, LaVar insisted that they license his upstart Big Baller Brand from him, according to the companies. 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."
If this LaVar guy couldn't get any more ridiculous, well, he just did. Did he really just compare his company, Big Baller Brand (which like everybody else, I only heard of after he made a complete fool of himself in appearances all over ESPN as he was wearing his brand) to Uber?!
What do you all think? All he is doing is using his son's fame to advance his company. Some may say more power to him, I say he better cool it before he ruins all of his sons' careers before they even start. I think he needs to separate himself from Lonzo's professional career.
Oh, and by the way, Big Baller Brand unveiled Lonzo's shoe line yesterday. The main pair will cost $495... and the flip flops (very similar to Nike's flip flops) will cost $220...
I just ordered 11 pairs
"Thank you for shopping with us today. Your total comes to $383747128299734736" ;)
Lavar is a genius over the past 3 months he has had one of the most successful marketing runs in sports history. He went from no one knowing or caring who he or his brand is to it being the number 1 trending topic on every social media network and everyone talking about him. I have already had multiple conversations start because of the ridiculousness of the price. I don't think the price even meant anything, he made it expensive to generate buzz. I could see any number of brands coming back to him and partnering with him just because of the pure popularity right now. Plus, if the brand partnered with a big company and brought prices down, the shoes would sell like wildfire to every kid that wants to be like Lonzo or his bro LaMelo.
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