It seemed like something of a surprise when word dropped that LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball would forego their collegiate careers and play professional basketball. It was an even bigger surprises when we learned that they were going to kick off their pro hoops careers by playing for a small squad in Lithuania.
A lot has happened since the two decided on where to play their pro ball, but one massive question remains: How on earth did two teenagers who were born and raised in California end up playing basketball in Lithuania? And to take this further, how did they decide on Prienai-Birstonas Vytautas, a small club coached by a dude who sells meat out of his car to players?
Thanks to Andrew Keh of the New York Times, we have an answer, and it’s just as absurd as you would expect. On Dec. 6 at 1:30 in the morning, a Lithuanian hoops journalist/part-time employee for Prienai-Birstonas Vytautas named Erikas Kirvelaitis shot a DM to Harrison Gaines, the agent for the Ball brothers, asking if they would be interested in joining the team.
Kirvelaitis did this without his bosses having any idea, largely because he didn’t think it would work. As Keh tells it, Kirvelaitis was wrong.
But to Kirvelaitis’s amazement, Gaines wrote back asking for more information. And less than a week later, the young Americans were signing contracts to begin their professional careers in this unassuming town nearly 6,000 miles from home.
“It was like a dream, crazy, a miracle, for our club to even have contact with them,” Kirvelaitis said. “But I’m someone who believes anything can be done if you try.”
It’s crazy to think about the Balls heading to a small team in Lithuania, but it’s even crazier when you hear that the way they learned about the team was that one part-time employee went rogue and DM’d their agent. One can only wonder what that means about, you know, the interest that other teams had in bringing both sons on board. But hey, they’re living the professional hoops dream, so shout out to them. And shout out to their agent for having open DMs.
