After enduring a lengthy rehab process since 2022, Ball is back on the floor for the Chicago Bulls.
It’s been a long journey for Ball, who first became a sensation while still in college at UCLA, thanks in part to the bombast of his father LaVar and his promotion of the family’s Big Baller Brand.
In a recent profile by ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Jamal Collier, the eldest Ball brother admitted that the Big Baller Brand shoes that he began his NBA Summer League career in were ... less than ideal.
"They were like kickball shoes," Ball said, explaining that while he wore them through two games of Summer League, he spent the rest of the exhibition series springing between new pairs every game.
While Big Baller Brand would later set up a partnership with Skechers to produce the shoes, Ball says the quality still didn’t reach what he needed for the court, going as far as to say that the BBB kicks might have contributed to the ongoing injuries that plagued his career.
"I think it's a possibility for sure, to be honest with you," Ball said. "I wasn't really getting hurt like that until I started wearing them."
Ball said there are other potential culprits as well, including the fact that he and his brothers were constantly playing outside, rather than on a properly maintained indoor court.
"My uncle used to always tell me, 'Y'all play too much outside,' because we were playing super hard in the backyard. That's on concrete," Ball said. "That was at least 15 years. So I mean, all that, over time, it can't be good for your knees."
Still, he doesn’t regret it.
"I don't feel like I would be where I'm at if I didn't do all that stuff," Ball said. "All the work that we put in, it could have hurt, but it also made us who we are. "
For now, Ball is back on the court, and he’s wearing much better shoes.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lonzo Ball Says Big Baller Brand Kicks He Wore in Games 'Were Like Kickball Shoes'.
