The Los Angeles Lakers' new point guard, Lonzo Ball, turned heads earlier in the year when he released his own signature shoe under his family's Big Baller Brand. However, the Ball family was not done shaking up the sneaker industry as they recently announced a signature for Lonzo's youngest brother, LaMelo Ball.
LaMelo's shoe, the MB1, represents the first ever signature for a high school athlete and will reportedly cost $395. LaMelo is still a junior in high school, but has already committed to play college basketball for UCLA. However, the announcement of his shoe creates an unusual dilemma and according to Darren Rovell of ESPN, the NCAA decided to issue a statement:
If LaMelo Ball is getting paid for BBB shoe deal, he's ineligible. That's of course a harder question to answer when your dad is the CEO. pic.twitter.com/A9gJMECCFN
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) August 31, 2017
The situation between LaMelo's shoe under Big Baller Brand and the NCAA's rules on student-athletes profiting from products they endorse is a unique one given that LaMelo himself is not being paid to wear his own shoe. Still, the entire issue falls on a gray area in regards to the rules set in place and it will be worth monitoring as the youngest Ball child grows older.
While he is not being touted like his brother Lonzo was at the same age, LaMelo is a solid player at this point in his young basketball career. He has shown growth as a playmaker but is still known to hunt his own shots, especially from downtown. No matter what happens with the shoe situation, expect LaMelo Ball to make more noise as he gets older.
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