Big Baller Brand Shoes Exposed: Why Lonzo Quit, What the Lakers Mandated, and What's Next
By Alexander Ross
The breaking point came outside the basketball arena. In March 2019, news broke that Lonzo had severed ties with Alan Foster, a longtime family friend and Big Baller Brand co-founder. Ball filed a formal lawsuit alleging Foster had embezzled $1.5 million from personal and business accounts, including hundreds of thousands of dollars redirected from brand operations. The company website went dark shortly afterward, and the Better Business Bureau slapped the operation with an "F" rating after receiving hundreds of unfulfilled customer complaints.
When Lonzo informed his father that he was shutting down his affiliation with the shoes and covering up his BBB tattoo, LaVar resisted. Lonzo recounted the personal fallout, explaining that his father treated the exit as a betrayal, arguing that walking away from the shoes was tantamount to turning his back on his family. That emotional friction caused a long-lasting rift between father and son, confirming that the startup had become an untenable personal liability.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
