After missing more than 1,000 days and undergoing three knee surgeries, Lonzo Ball’s return to the court this season has been one of the bright spots in Chicago.
There had been whispers around the league for years that part of what led to Ball’s persistent knee issues was the Big Baller Brand shoes he wore. For those that need a refresher, Lonzo’s father, LaVar Ball, had hyped up his sons for years, and as Lonzo was entering the NBA as the No. 2 pick of the Los Angeles Lakers LaVar wanted to turn that into something lucrative for himself, hence the Big Baller Brand of shoes and apparel. Lonzo wore a prototype Big Baller Brand shoe during Summer League for about two games, then after LaVar had worked a deal with Sketchers to make the shoes, priced at $495 Lonzo wore them his rookie year, when he suffered his first meniscus issue in his knee.
Ball switched shoes by his second year, but as he suffered numerous injuries in the issuing years, plenty of people around the league including trainers and medical people thought the shoes played a role. Lonzo himself isn’t sure but told Ramona Shelburne and Jamal Collier of ESPN its possible (part of a must-read story on his return).
“I was an Adidas kid since high school, so I was thinking that was going to be the route,” Ball said. “But what was told to me, I guess, wasn’t what really happened. I was told that nobody wanted to partner with me, so my dad was like, ‘Just rock the brand.’ And I was like, ‘All right.’…
“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.”
Medical issues are often a culmination of multiple factors, which is likely the case with Ball. But were the shoes a contributing factor? How significant a contributor?
What matters now is it’s good to see Ball back on the court this season and contributing in Chicago.