The sports marketing world has been put on notice by LaVar Ball. The outspoken father of UCLA freshman star Lonzo Ball and high school hoopsters LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball – both of whom also have committed to UCLA – has a monstrous asking price for the athletic apparel companies hoping to sign his sons to a deal.
“A billion dollars, it has to be there," Ball told USA Today. “That’s our number, a billion, straight out of the gate. And you don’t even have to give it to me all up front. Give us $100 mil over 10 years."
And if you think $1 billion sounds outrageous, LaVar Ball had another eye-opening confession in that USA Today feature. And it involves His Airness:
“Back in my heyday, I would kill Michael Jordan one-on-one. … I would just back (Jordan) in and lift him off the ground and call a foul every time he fouls me when I do a jump hook to the right or the left," said the 6-foot-6, 270-pounds Ball. “He cannot stop me one-on-one. He better make every shot ’cause he can’t go around me. He’s not fast enough. And he can only make so many shots outside before I make every bucket under the rim."
