By now, you have become acquainted with LaVar Ball, the loud, self-promoting father of Lonzo Ball, a star at UCLA and a future first-round pick in this year's NBA Draft. He also has two other sons playing in high school, and has created a brand around all three. In short, Lonzo Ball wants to take over the world with his sons and make a billion dollars on a shoe deal with them. He's said if he can't do it with any of the big three—Nike, Adidas, or Under Armour—he'll do it on his own.
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Yesterday, at SportsBusiness Daily's World Congress of Sports event in California, Nike's global basketball sports marketing director George Raveling—who might be feeling squeezed by Ball—said LaVar was the worst thing to happen to basketball in 100 years.
Wow, veteran Nike exec George Raveling on LaVar Ball:
A lot of things have happened in basketball over the last century. Many of them have been far worse than a loud parent trying to get his kids (and himself) paid. Here are just some of those things that have happened since 1917:
Black players were not permitted in the Big Ten and many other major college basketball programs until 1947.
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