Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball wears Big Baller Brand ZO2 shoes during a 2017 NBA game. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Kobe Bryant Warned Lonzo Ball About His Sneakers in 2017

Originally posted on Sneakers on SI | By Pat Benson | Last updated Oct 20, 2025 1:00 PM ET

On Wednesday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers will face the New York Knicks in their NBA season tip-off. The game will mark another new chapter in the career of Cavaliers guard Lonzo Ball, who begins playing for the fifth team of his career.

Every NBA fan closely followed Ball's rollercoaster journey from the future face of the Los Angeles Lakers to missing two full seasons due to lower-body injuries.

Ball and the Lakers organization blamed the infamous $495 Big Baller Brand basketball shoes for the start of the promising young player's injuries.

"I think it's a possibility for sure, to be honest with you," Ball told ESPN. "I wasn't really getting hurt like that until I started wearing them."

Ball admitted to his signature BBB shoes falling apart during games, and eventually switched to wearing Kobe Bryant's retro Nike basketball shoes full-time. However, it was Bryant who warned Ball about the quality of his BBB shoes posing an issue in a 2017 CNBC interview.

When asked about Ball's plan of challenging existing footwear companies with the family-owned business, Bryant said, "Well, I mean, my thoughts are execute properly, right? It's not good enough to have a shoe, launch a shoe, but in that market, in that business, you have to make sure that the product is there, right?"

Bryant continued, "The only way you can challenge the big guys, the innovation, and the quality of the product is there, and you give yourself a serious fighting chance. So I'm all for that. I'm all for doing things differently.

I just think you have to obsess over every single detail about that product. Even beyond, before getting into the marketing and the storytelling of it all, you got to get the product right."

NBA fans and sneakerheads who closely followed Ball's footwear journey remember every peak and valley along the way.

Everything from his father, LaVar Ball's boisterous marketing, to the fulfillment issues, to eventually wearing different brands during the 2017 NBA Summer League games in Las Vegas.

Ball later revealed that he originally wanted to sign with adidas coming out of his freshman season with the UCLA Bruins. Ball wore adidas in high school and again in college.

UCLA was an adidas partner school at the time. Unfortunately, Ball was misled into believing that no company wanted to sign him.

Last month, Ball participated in the Cavaliers media day and wore 15-year-old Nike Kobe basketball shoes. Hopefully, the Southern California hoops legend can stay healthy and reclaim what is left of his professional career.