Lavar Ball To Groom Players For The NBA With His New 'JBA'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The outspoken CEO of Big Baller Brand and father of Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball, is apparently "looking for 80 players to fill 10 teams that will seek to play at NBA arenas in Los Angeles, Dallas, Brooklyn and Atlanta." According to reports, all of those players figure to be nationally ranked high school basketball prospects who simply don't want to attend college before becoming NBA Draft eligible.
Ball's Junior Basketball Association, which he says is fully funded by his Big Baller Brand, plans to pay the lowest-ranked player a salary of $3,000 a month and the best player $10,000 a month, Ball said.
Ball is also the father of LiAngelo, who got caught up in a shoplifting scandal as a member of the UCLA basketball team at the start of the season, and LaMelo, who scored 91 points in a Chino Hills High School game last season. Both have dropped out of school to play professionally in Lithuania.
"Getting these players is going to be easy," Ball told ESPN. "This is giving guys a chance to get a jump start on their career, to be seen by pro scouts, and we're going to pay them because someone has to pay these kids."