LaVar Ball’s experiment of setting up a new league for young ballers turned out fine for his sons but disastrous for many.
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The Junior Basketball Association was launched in 2017 by LaVar Ball and Lonzo Ball in association with Big Baller Brand. Projected as an alternative path for prospects ranging from 16 to 21 years old, JBA promised college students a chance to earn something (at least $3000 a month) while playing.
JBA league’s mission statement read, “For decades, the NCAA has run a business that has exploited thousands of teens, while college institutions, coaches, media conglomerates, and corporate sponsors have all profited from the model. The JBA is a long-awaited solution to this ongoing problem.”
LaVar Ball entrusted two people to make league decisions within the JBA, firstly Alan Foster, the man who Lonzo fired as his manager for reportedly defrauding him of approximately $1.5 million. And Wayne Merino, the former California state title-winning basketball coach who lost his job after playing foreign recruits with fake visas.
That could not have started off things well for anyone. Certainly not for a bunch of youngsters looking to make a living in a newly started league that promises things that an established institution (NCAA) couldn’t do in more than 70 years of its existence.
The fall of LaVar Ball’s JBA led to the suffering of players like Francis Mensah Jr.
As it happened, the league fell apart within a year of its formation. Instead of getting the less fortunate players the chance to live a better life, JBA costed most players a chance at a college basketball career, possibly even NCAA.
We got a chance to talk to one of the players who played for the New York Ballers. Francis Mensah Jr. from Newark, New Jersey, who in his senior year at high school, led his state in rebounds (18-RPG and 15-PPG) in 2017 but then decided to join JBA.
The 22-year-old Psychology Major student at Rutgers University vividly remembers his time in LaVar Ball’s league.
“When I decided to join the JBA, Lavar Ball offered me to get exposure, paid, and also residuals depending on the amount of Jersey that was sold, but unfortunately the league did not last long enough. I was interested because my dream is to one day make it to the NBA, and I thought that was the correct path.” Mensah said.
He then continued to reveal that Senior Ball came up short on his promises, “LaVar fell completely behind on the promises he made to me and my teammates.”
The New Jersey native like most other JBA players has still not played professional basketball since the league shut down in 2018. But he believes that LaVar was like a father to the players, who wanted all of them to succeed.
Some of his wrong decisions led to a great idea becoming a disaster. But the Ball family except for LiAngelo came out of it safely. Lonzo and LaMelo have been sensational in the NBA being the primary point guards for the Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Hornets respectively.
For the rest of the players, they have to keep up the hustle like Francis, who is expecting to make it to the Rutgers’ Division 1 basketball team.
