Hornets star LaMelo Ball is facing a $200 million lawsuit amid accusations from his former business partner, Alan Foster. Foster, the co-founder of Big Baller Brand, is suing LaVar Ball, Tina Ball, LaMelo Ball, and PUMA brand after alleging that they stole his design for Melo’s signature ‘MB1’ sneakers, which were released in December of 2021.
“LaMelo was instrumental in creating his first signature shoe with Big Baller Brand,” Foster wrote, via TMZ. “He was fully aware of the existence of the LaMelo Trademarks — he helped design them! He knew that his Big Baller Brand signature shoe was called the ‘MB1’ and that the name was protected by a federal trademark. Yet, despite his knowledge of all of this, LaMelo willfully and deliberately chose to name the signature shoe he created and designed with PUMA the ‘MB1’ in violation of the LaMelo Trademarks.”
According to the case, the shoe design was drafted when LaMelo was still a teenager, shortly before Alan and BBB acquired specific trademarks for the item. But when Foster had a falling out with the Ball family in 2019, things turned ugly between the former business associates and they severed all ties with the other side. The problem for LaMelo’s camp, however, is that they still used Foster’s trademarks to create their first shoe with Puma, and now he’s facing some serious litigation.
Old Enemies At It Again
As previously mentioned, this isn’t the first time that the Ball family has waged war against Alan Foster. In the incident back in 2019, some wild accusations were made against Foster involving an apparent embezzlement scheme with Big Baller Brand. At the time, Lonzo accused the co-founder of stealing over $1.5 million using an elaborate scheme. The lawsuit also accused Foster of making threats against Ball with leaks of “false information to the public.” During this endeavor, it was also revealed that Foster previously went to prison for his involvement in a Ponzi scheme, which the Ball family claims they were entirely unaware of.
This whole ordeal essentially sealed the fate of Big Baler Brand, as Lonzo moved on to focus on other brands while LaMelo signed with Puma during his ascension to stardom. While Big Baler Brand is still around today, it’s becoming increasingly irrelevant in the basketball scene with each passing year and this ongoing court battle is really the only thing keeping them in the news. As for what’s next with LaMelo, one can only hope that his expensive lawyers can handle this in court so he can keep his focus on performing on the court.
A Big Test For LaMelo
As the world stays in touch with the Big Baller Brand’s legal battle, attention will also be paid to LaMelo himself, who is due for a breakout season in Charlotte. In each of his first three seasons so far, he’s shown amazing promise, steadily improving as a scorer, distributor, and decision-maker for the Hornets. As the third overall pick in 2020, Ball has yet to meet expectations as a top lottery pick but there is still time for him to reach that level.
This season, with averages of 19.6 points, 9 assists, and 5 rebounds per game, LaMelo isn’t having the best start to this new season but he’s showing enough on both ends of the floor to justify the Hornets’ faith in his abilities. If he can stay healthy, stay out of trouble, and keep improving his game, LaMelo is destined for a fantastic NBA career, and the Hornets are right for handing him the keys to their franchise.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
