Lonzo Ball Unboxes New Big Baller Brand Shoes at Cavs Game

It is unclear what was said in the brief pre-game conversation, but Ball briefly inspected the shoes before placing them back in the packaging and walking away with the suitcase.

Over the weekend, the official Big Baller Brand Instagram account began teasing upcoming shoes in Cavaliers' colors—wine red and gold. The brand followed up with more social media posts, including behind-the-scenes footage of last night's action in Cleveland.

Ball did not wear the shoes in the game. Instead, he continued to wear Kobe Bryant's retro Nike sneakers. This time, Ball wore the Nike Kobe 5 Protro in the 'Bruce Lee' colorway. The shoes were released in November 2020 for $180 and now have an average resale price of $879 on the sneaker resale platform StockX.

Ball's footwear catalog has been tied to his injury history. The Southern California hoops legend entered the NBA after one season with UCLA with high expectations.

Not only was the Chino Hills prospect going to lead the Los Angeles Lakers in the wake of Bryant's retirement, but his family-owned Big Baller Brand was going to take on major sneaker companies.

The Lakers organization reportedly believed the Big Baller Brand basketball shoes could be blamed for the start of the promising young player's injuries. "I think it's a possibility for sure, to be honest with you," Ball admitted to ESPN. "I wasn't really getting hurt like that until I started wearing them."

Ball later recounted on a 2019 podcast that the early versions of his signature shoes fell apart during games. He eventually switched to wearing retro Nike Kobe sneakers full-time.

However, it was Bryant who warned Ball about the quality of his BBB shoes posing a potential issue in a 2017 CNBC interview.

Bryant said at the time, "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."

After starting his NBA career with Big Baller Brand, Ball later revealed that he originally wanted to sign with adidas coming out of his freshman season at UCLA. Ball wore adidas in high school and again in college.

Meanwhile, the youngest Ball brother, LaMelo Ball, has a highly successful signature sneaker line with PUMA. The PUMA MB.05 launched earlier this fall and continues to stand out on the court thanks to its bold design and flashy colorways.

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