Big Baller Brand Fallout Continues With $200 Mil Lawsuit Against LaMelo Ball and PUMA

Another lawsuit involving the Ball family means the basketball dynasty has seen the timber of the courtroom more than the NBA Finals’ hardwood.

The Big Baller Brand (BBB) was founded in 2016 by Alan Foster and LaMelo’s father, LaVar Ball. The Ball family broke away from BBB and Foster a few years later, with multiple duels in court following the split. In March 2019, Lonzo, the eldest Ball boy, filed a lawsuit claiming Foster embezzled approximately $1.5 million dollars from Lonzo’s bank accounts. In October that same year, Foster returned the gesture by registering a civil lawsuit alleging LaVar embezzled $2.5 million dollars from BBB and Ball Sports Group, Inc. (BSG).

Fast forward to October 2020 and LaMelo Ball, the Charlotte Hornets’ point-guard, has decided to moved on with another sporting brand, signing a $100 million deal with PUMA, which was a month before he was the number 3 overall pick in the NBA Draft. A year after that, LaMelo’s first signature shoe was released, the MB1, which brings us to the most recent legal development: Foster has gone to court to claim that LaMelo's MB1 line was originally his idea and that he filed BBB trademarks for the sneaker years before PUMA released it.

According to TMZ Sports, Foster has named LaMelo Ball, LaVar Ball, Tina Ball, and PUMA in a $200 million lawsuit over trademark violation and lost revenue. In a case filed in federal court in California, the former BBB business partner alleges trademark infringement and fraud against the Ball family, while also claiming he hasn’t received millions of dollars for his work with Big Baller Brand.

Foster’s lawyer reportedly states in the lawsuit:

‘LaMelo was instrumental in creating his first signature shoe with Big Baller Brand. He was fully aware of the existence of the LaMelo Trademarks – he helped design them!’

‘He knew that his Big Baller Brand signature shoe was called the "MB1" and that the name was protected by a federal trademark. Yet, despite his knowledge of all of this, LaMelo willfully and deliberately chose to name the signature shoe he created and designed with PUMA the "MB1" in violation of the LaMelo Trademarks.’

The original 2019 lawsuits are still ongoing, so this new case is yet another chapter in a sprawling fallout between Foster and the Balls.

Stay locked to Sneaker Freaker for any updates on the ongoing legal battles.