LaVar Ball is getting his own trading card. Yes, LaVar. Lonzo’s dad. ESPN reported late Tuesday that the Big Baller Brand patriarch will appear on authographed trading cards made by Leaf.
The cards — which can’t be called basketball cards because LaVar clearly can’t play basketball — will be sold where all sports card transactions happen these days: eBay. Each one will cost $59.95, which is an inexpensive way to get into the Big Baller Brand ecosystem but still isn’t exactly cheap.
Ball was quick to note, however, that this isn’t about making Big Baller bucks.
“This wasn’t all about the money,” Ball told ESPN. “I think it’s cool to have a card.”
The value here isn’t just Ball’s signature, but the sayings that come on each card. Let Darren Rovell explain:
Each card is inscribed with one of Ball’s sayings, such as “$495 ain’t enough,” and “If you can’t afford the ZO2’s, you’re not a big baller,” a reference to his son’s signature shoe price. Another card says “$1 billion was a discount,” referencing his demands of the shoe companies, who turned down his overtures to create a partnership with the company he created.
I guess if you really enjoy Ball saying outrageous things, these are the cards for you. I’m just not clear on what the market is for these. It’s one thing for Ball to bombastically say he’s better than Jordan, but to hand him sixty bucks to have it written on some cardboard seems just plain silly.
Anyway, here are a few other sayings the cards will feature.
Perhaps the most sought-after cards will bear the sayings, “Lonzo better than Steph Curry!” and “Stick to the donuts, Chuck!” a shot at NBA Hall of Famer and current TNT analyst Charles Barkley, who has ripped Ball in the past.
Lonzo is sure to get a card contract as well, but will 200 people actually want LaVar Ball trading cards. Actually, yes.
The LaVar Ball signed Leaf cards, all 200 of them being sold for $60 each on eBay, sold out in one minute. pic.twitter.com/H2wEFpptxo
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) June 14, 2017
I guess people will buy just about anything these days. One interesting thing Ball revealed in this story is the number of ZO2 his Big Baller Brand has sold. Given how much attention they received, the actual number of pairs preordered may surprise you.
Ball said he has sold more than 500 pairs of the ZO2 shoes, but expects sales to pick up more due to a looming deadline.
The preorder will end the night Lonzo gets drafted, but right now Ball’s company has sold just 300 more pairs of shoes than they sold novelty trading cards. That doesn’t seem like a lot to me but, then again, I’m definitely not a Big Baller.
