Ball in the Family: Updates

3.29.20

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Season 5 of Ball In The Family recently ended, and whether you love them or hate them, a lot of interesting events went down. For starters, the family is trying to rebuild their brand, and it is taking a large tole on the family. Long-term business partner Alan Foster, reportedly embezzled millions of dollars from the brand, and neglected to ever tell the family about his legal history from the past, which may have foreshadowed this series of events. So, as Lavar is basically set to rebuild the family brand from the ground up, the three boys need to choose if they’re sticking with BBB, or branching out as “Sneaker Free Agents.”

Lonzo Ball tells his dad “I’ll give you one year, to see where you can get the brand.” Obviously, Lavar isn’t on anyones timeline but his own. So, the two are at odds. Every family gathering is awkward, and the two never really FaceTime each other when they’re apart. After being traded to the New Orleans Pelicans, he is averaging about 32 minutes per game and 12 points. Slightly better than last year with the Lakers, but he was also hurt most of the season. To me it doesn’t feel like he is going back to BBB. We haven’t seen any new ZO2 merchandise, compared to the other boys and their own collections. Lonzo has also been pretty vocal to his brothers that he feels they should keep their options open, and go where the money and security lies. I’d say security lies within the family, your Nike deal will expire (or whoever they were to sign with). However, there is some work to be done on the BBB brand side, in order to get back to where the brand was financially a year ago. I’m not suer Lonzo is who the sneaker outlets are looking to right now, but I wonder if he were to go somewhere else, what this would look like for the next season of Ball In The Family. I’m not sure if there is one, or when it would be, but that will be an interesting scenario, because Lavar is pretty stern on if you turn your back on the family brand, you turn your back on the family. Lonzo looks insanely unhappy all season long. He doesn’t get to see his daughter, his relationship with his baby mother is pretty damaged, his family is across the country, and with the decline of the brand, everyone is at odds. Hopefully he can pull it together, and grow to become the player everyone expected as the 2017 No. 2 Draft Pick.

LiAngelo Ball is in a much different situation, as with no hesitation, he decides to stick with Big Baller Brand. I’m not sure that Gelo had much of another option, seeing as he isn’t currently in the league, and probably not on the top of brand’s sneaker deal scouting radar. Gelo’s faced a lot of adversity on playing basketball, due to his arrest while playing for UCLA. He didn’t get drafted during his class, then he got injured and needed surgery so was out for some time. When he was ready to go play again, he wanted to go play overseas with Melo, but decided against it. He wanted Melo to shine on his own, and not hinder his shot at the 2020 No. 1 Draft Pick. On the last episode, we got news that Gelo was invited to try out for the OKC G League team. After attending the one practice, they instantly decided to take him on. Today with the Coronavirus, we have no idea what Summer League will look like, if it will even be an option. This could be another roadblock for Gelo, but at least securing a spot on the OKC G League team is a step closer to his dream of making it to the league.

Melo is the wildcard in all of this. Currently, Melo is playing overseas in Australia, and currently a prospect for the 2020 No. 1 Overall Draft Pick. As an eighteen year old in this position, with an older brother whose been through the entire process already, you have to figure Melo is going to look to his older brother for his advice, rather than his father. Not to say one is right over the other, but that is just how families typically work. So, Melo states that he “is going to hear out all his options, but he’ll always be down with the family.” This obviously is not a decision one way or another, but a clear sign of conflicting thoughts. Melo is a present part of seeing new designs and giving his opinions on the BBB Melo 1 collection. However, during multiple family visits to Australia, Melo avoids the family almost entirely, in attempt to delay any further conversation or decisions to be made in regards to the business. For Melo, the final episode leaves us quite unclear. He tells Lavar he will not be able to make the pop-up shop in Australia, and Lavar is livid. Lavar is so mad, it sounds like he is disowning his own son. Melo ends up making it to the pop-up a half hour before it is due to shut down. In my opinion, this is just fame getting to his head. Show up on your own time, make your own schedule, don’t listen to anybody. Lavar and Tina at least seemed happy that their son made it there at all, and quickly patched things up. I’m excited to see where Melo ends up in the NBA draft, and the battle of sneaker deals.

Overall, I think the rest of the year for the Ball’s is certainly up in the air. Will Melo go number one, and what sneaker deal will he sign with? Will Gelo get to participate in summer league, does he have another shot at the league? Will Lonzo and Lavar ever patch things up, where does Lonzo stand with the family? My biggest question from the past five seasons remain. Is Lavar Ball an amazing father, that will do anything for his wife and family? Or is he completely brainwashing everyone around him to make decisions that benefit his financial situation? He did get the three boys to where they are today. He is doing the rights things to restructure his brand. Most importantly, he is doing everything in his power to get Tina back to one hundred percent, again. I love to think deep down he is a great guy. But sometimes I’m quite unsure.