With a brand new shoe on the market after being denied by three of the most recognized shoe brands in the basketball world, LaVar Ball defended the marginally steep price tag in his son's signature shoe line.
Lonzo Ball‘s ZO2 Prime, the standard model, retails for an exorbitant $495, while his autographed premium ZO2 Wet model goes for a collectable-price of $995, including an LED box to display it. A ZO2 Slide model goes for a cool $220, more than most premium or limited edition basketball shoes on the market.
“I figure that's what the shoe is worth,” Ball nonchalantly told ESPN's Darren Rovell. “When you are your own owner you can come up with any price you want.”
“Prada and Gucci is selling theirs for what they want. Ours is better than that. It feels better.”
While Ball could easily try and justify not only the materials, but also the labor done in the U.S. like any businessman would — his large ego and baseless bravado opted for words like “I figure” and “it feels better” — making his case a rather poor one when attempting to give consumers a rather sensible reason for his price tag.
Former NFL wideout Chad Johnson bought himself a pair, while TNT analyst Shaquille O'Neal, who owns a signature line of his own, selling for less than $60 at Walmart, ripped the prospect's father for quite an obnoxious price.
Hey @Lavarbigballer real big baller brands don't over charge kids for shoes. pic.twitter.com/N2U0VPXXyt
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) May 4, 2017
“Everybody ain't going out to buy no Rolls Royce,” LaVar Ball told ESPN's Dan Le Batard on Friday. “But they might get them a little car to get them from A to B. Just like Shaq was saying. Bring the shoes down for the kids to buy. How about, ‘You already got that covered, so let them buy your shoe'?”
Lonzo Ball seemed content with the process, given the absolute freedom of design he got to have at his young age.
“What kid, you know, that's 19 can make his own shoe the way he wants it?” Lonzo told Ramona Shelburne in an interview for ESPN The Magazine. “How he wants it to feel? So it's a dream come true for me, just because I love shoes, and just the process behind the whole thing is actually really cool.”
LaVar Ball went to meetings with Nike, adidas, and Under Armour in efforts to look for a “business partner” to co-license his Big Baller Brand instead of a standard shoe deal — the latter company had nothing but laughs for his business proposition.
“When I went to that meeting, they were looking at me crazy at the first take,” Ball said. “All the other people on the outside is saying I'm costing them millions; you god dang right I'm costing them millions because it ain't about millions with us. It's about them B's — billions.”
“The people that are complaining are the ones who can't get the shoe and don't want the shoe and that's fine because there's a lot of people out here that want the shoe and can get the shoe.”
Only time will tell if Big Baller Brand's business model has more to boast than a steep price tag. The shoes are expected to first ship in Nov. 24, roughly a month into the regular season.
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