LaVar Ball Hopes To Start League For High School Graduates Thanks To Big Baller Brand

LaVar Ball’s two youngest sons recently signed big deals to play abroad, and now their is more news coming out of the Ball family.

LaVar Ball new basketball league news

On Wednesday, the founder and CEO of Big Baller Brand announced he hopes to launch a basketball league for nationally ranked players who have graduated from high school but don’t wish to attend college.

Ball said his Junior Basketball Association — which is fully funded by Big Baller Brand — plans to pay the lowest-ranked player a salary of $3,000 a month and the best player $10,000 a month. Ball is looking for 80 players to fill 10 teams that will seek to play at NBA arenas in Los Angeles, Dallas, Brooklyn and Atlanta.

“Getting these players is going to be easy,” Ball told ESPN. “This is giving guys a chance to get a jump start on their career, to be seen by pro scouts; and we’re going to pay them, because someone has to pay these kids.”

Ball added the rules of his league will follow those of the NBA instead of college: 12-minute quarters and a pro 3-point line.

The former college basketball and pro football player said he was partly motivated by remarks made earlier this month by NCAA president Mark Emmert, who was asked at a SportsBusiness Journal conference whether Ball was good or bad for college basketball.

“Is this about someone being part of a university and playing basketball or any other sport with that school’s jersey on, representing that institution, or is it about preparing me for my career, my professional career as a ballplayer?” Emmert responded, just a few days after Ball’s son LiAngelo left UCLA to turn pro before even playing for the school. “If it’s the latter, you can do that inside a university and that might be a really good way to go. But if you don’t want to and you don’t think that it’s right for your family, then don’t come.”

LiAngelo and his 16-year-old high-school brother LaMelo signed one-year deals with Lithuanian pro basketball team Prienai Birstonas Vytautas last week.

The logo for Ball’s new league features the silhouette of LaVar’s oldest son Lonzo, a rookie who plays with the Los Angeles Lakers, going to the hoop for a dunk.

Lonzo said Wednesday after the Lakers beat the Houston Rockets 122-116 that had his father’s league existed when he was finishing high school, he likely would have joined it.

“Personally, probably,” said the rookie. “If you know you’re going to be a [draft pick], go ahead and get to play versus the top guys in the country and move on with your life.”

LaVar Ball and his three sons star in a reality web series on Facebook called “Ball in the Family,” which premiered in August and chronicles their life in Chino Hills, California.

NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 22: LaVar Ball, father of Lonzo Ball, looks on during the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 22, 2017 in New York City.

Article by Pablo Mena

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