Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid continued to poke fun at Lonzo Ball and the Big Baller Brand on Sunday.
Joel Embiid isn’t a Lonzo Ball fan. While the Philadelphia 76ers star may not have any personal vendettas against the cornerstone off the Big Baller Brand, Lonzo’s father has sparked plenty of conversation with his outlandish comments and overt media stunts.
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No matter how many times public figureheads warn those falling into the Ball’s publicity trap, we’ve seen Lonzo’s brand — and his notoriety — flourish over the course of Summer League. People are talking about which shoe brand he chooses to wear, while his play on the court has already led some talking heads to dub him the best prospect in this year’s class.
And while the latter portion of those sentiments is a stretch, it does represent a fine line that we as fans must tread carefully when discussing Ball. We can’t let the vitriol being sent his direction alter our perception of how special his offensive gift are, but we also need to avoid overhyping Lonzo’s game on the basis of public perception alone.
We’ve never seen a prospect entering the league with the firestorm of coverage that Ball has gotten over the past few months, nor have we seen a father rise to such prominence at the forefront of the NBA discussion. Their brand is odd, and the whole act is a bit quirky, but it’s working quite well for the Balls financially — both in the short term and in the long term.
The feud itself between Embiid and the Balls stems directly from LaVar. After father Ball responded to a series of Tweets from Embiid and Ben Simmons on draft night, while also dropping a handful of insults on Embiid elsewhere, the Cameroonian got NSFW on Instagram Live, speaking out in profane fashion against LaVar’s antics.
That led to a $10,000 fine for Embiid, as well as further comments from LaVar. Now, Embiid is taking a direct shot at the Triple B’s themselves.
Embiid, in what was a lighthearted moment overall, told TMZ that he’d need $1 billion to wear Big Baller Brand shoes in-game.
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Whether you deem them Kobe-esque or unique on their own, BBB’s shoes aren’t necessarily the issue — it’s the price and the way they’ve been marketed. LaVar has made countless comments that are solely for the purpose of gaining media traction, which in turn increases sales on their $495 shoes. That qualifies as overpriced.
Embiid threw out the $1 billion price tag as a reference to a prior statement from LaVar (picking up on the pattern here?), who said Lonzo would need to reach the B’s financially before he committed to a different shoe brand.
As the bad blood continues, expect this Sixers v.s. Lakers rivalry continue to heat up along with it. While Philadelphia is obviously ascending at a quicker pace for the time being, Los Angeles is putting together a group that’s capable of making progress in the coming years.
If Lonzo does live up to the hype, he’d be another special guard suiting up opposite to Markelle Fultz. That’d also pit the first and second overall picks from two straight drafts against each other in the same rivalry, as Simmons and Brandon Ingram would be a part of the same phenomenon.
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You add Embiid’s desire to outclass Ball, and you have a pair of young, big market teams who will be more than willing to channel some extra energy when matched up. It’s The Process against the Big Ballers, and the entertainment value is skyrocketing.