Three years after starting his NBA career, New Orleans Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball sees it as a pivotal offseason, which began with a major business decision: Ball signed with Klutch Sports agent Rich Paul , the 22-year-old told ESPN.
“I wanted to lead my career,” Ball told ESPN. “Choosing my representation – just as my decision – was the first step in that process. For me, it was an easy call and it was the right time to make that call.”
Ball joins Klutch Sports after short stints with Creative Arts Agency and Roc Nation.
Weeks removed from a disappointing team that performed in NBA seed matches in Orlando, Fla., Ball said he would begin his off-season training regimen on Monday, which includes two-a-day sessions on the basketball court and workouts in weight room.
Ball said his goal for next season is to make the playoffs and compete to follow in the footsteps of teammate Brandon Ingram.
“Once we get to the playoffs, we take one game at a time,” Ball said. “As far as I’m concerned, I think Most Improved Player is definitely something I can achieve next year.”
UCLA’s # 2 pick in 2017 opened an unconventional path in the NBA, hiring family friend Harrison Gaines as his agent and turning down sponsorship opportunities with legacy sneaker companies to wear the family’s Big Baller Brand .
Going into the league, Ball’s father LaVar, who worked as a coach at one point, was omnipresent. LaVar and his wife, Tina, raised three children – Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo – who all became basketball stars in Chino Hills, California.
During the Lonzo Ball drafting process, LaVar became a fully fledged pop culture figure. LaVar publicly referred his son to the Los Angeles Lakers, was faked on “Saturday Night Live,” and made regular sports talk news. Ball, his father, and family partner Alan Foster had an argument in May 2019 after a dispute over missing funds.
“We had a couple of rumblings here and there, but it all fell into place,” said Lonzo Ball. “When your child grows up, they will clash with their dad, and that’s what I’ve been doing for about a year and a half. But now it’s all right.”
LaVar Ball, reached on the phone by ESPN, said: “He’s always been her man. As a father, all I can do is lead him. I’m not going to take on a minor role. I’ll be his father, and that’s it.”
Lonzo Ball said the birth of his daughter, Zoey, and the move to New Orleans for some space helped to mend his relationship with his father. Ball added that, although they no longer work together, he and LaVar talk almost every day.
“My dad has put me in a position where I feel comfortable making my own decisions now,” Ball said. “I think by entering the league, he was very in control of everything that was going on. But that was a boy of 18, 19. But now I’m 22 with my family. See how he watched over me and stuff – it was time for him. to finally let it all go and watch me be my man. “
However, LaVar Ball’s approach may have been perceived, basketball results cannot be disputed: LaMelo Ball is expected to be one of the top five picks in the 2020 draft, just as his big brother was.
“It’s in the same place I was in four years ago,” Ball said of LaMelo. “The only thing now is that he is much more informed than I am. All the failures and bad things that I have been through, he has already seen it and he already knows. He knows the answers to the test before he even enters the classroom.”
The ball was traded to New Orleans in 2019 as part of a deal that sent Anthony Davis, who is also represented by Paul, to the Lakers. The ball was dealt alongside Josh Hart, Ingram and draft picks a few days before the Pelicans picked Duke forward Zion Williamson with pick no. 1 ever.
“Being in New Orleans, I have no family out there,” Ball said. “He put me alone for the first time in my life.”
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