When Lonzo Ball entered the NBA, he came in with very different circumstances than most top picks. His father was trying to push Big Baller Brand with Ball as the face of it, rather than him inking a deal with a major sneaker company. As such, Lonzo had a lot of his own money tied up in the launch of a new brand and he let others, namely family friend Alan Foster, handle a lot of the business decisions and his finances.
Then, when millions of Ball’s money went missing, it became very apparent to Ball that he had been putting his trust in the wrong people. Ball also had a child on the way, and it was one of those situations that told him he was going to need to grow up quickly.
Ball joined LeBron James on the latest episode of HBO’s The Shop and discussed the entire situation he’s been dealing with, and how the birth of his daughter and the Foster fiasco led to him taking control of his career.
Via Silver Screen and Roll:
”I think when my daughter was born, that’s when it really kind of clicked. Like ‘yo, you gotta start taking control, because now I’m not just doing shit for me, or my mom and my dad — who I love — but I’ve got to look out for a little one that’s mine. That I brought into the world.’ So I mean, when she was born, I started thinking about it, and then just everything that happened recently with Alan and everything, that’s what kind of woke me up.”
…
”I’ve known him since I was 12… People don’t understand how (close he was)… I bought my mom and dad a house, and he had a room in there. So like what the media sees… The way I feel about him is different, that’s why I covered the BBB (tattoo) up on my arm. Because when I saw that, I saw him and that s— just made me so (angry). Because when we looked at the transactions, s— didn’t start happening until my mom got sick, because she took care of all the money s—.
“So that’s what really hurt me, like that s— hurt me. Like I don’t even know what I would do if I see him right now. I ain’t seen him. So it was like when that happened, everything just went off.”
Ball’s frustration is completely warranted, especially given how close Foster was to him and his family. When you have a family friend do this to you that hurts. Then add in the stress of having a child, it forces people to change quickly. Ball decided that he wanted to take better control of his own life, so he’s doing that and hopefully it works out for him.
Ball so far hasn’t changed too much. He’s hinted at a move to Nike, but nothing has been made official. Whatever comes next, Ball will almost assuredly keep a closer watch on how his finances and business dealings are being managed, and his story can serve as a cautionary tale to others on being sure they’re aware of how their money is being handled.
