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Lonzo Ball got tired of his ZO2s?

Former UCLA played his last Summer League game with a pair of Nike. A sign of change or simple marketing?

Lonzo Ball got tired of his ZO2s? Former UCLA played his last Summer League game with a pair of Nike. A sign of change or simple marketing?

Last night game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers has been just one of the Summer League. On paper, it should've been a clash between the most discussed rookie of the year, Lonzo Ball, and Markelle Fultz, first pick in the last NBA Draft. With the absence of Fultz for an ankle injury, Ball took the lead of the stage, without disappointing the crowd. He scored 36 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists, shooting with the 54% from the field, and most of all the and-one that decided the match with 21 seconds to play.

Everything normal here, everyone expected Ball to make the difference in the Summer League. The true news of the night came from the fact that Lonzo didn’t have his Big Baller Brand signature shoe, the ZO2, on his feet, but a pair of Nike Kobe A.D. The news created lots of comments, and also The King, of modern basketball and also Nike, LeBron James to post a comment about it on Instagram.

Just. Do. It

A post shared by LeBron James (@kingjames) on

The switch arrives less than a week later than Elena Delle Donne’s tweet, best female player of the world, also represented by Nike, that suggested former UCLA switch to the Swoosh. The attention of the change of shoe was that high that some reporters asked Lonzo Ball to explain the decision. The biggest of the Ball brothers gave a very mature and controlled answer.

“Mamba Mentality", then. For sure, that kind of Kobe’s mentality has been seen on the field, but we don’t know why it was on his feet also. What the media are really waiting is a statement from his volcanic father LaVar, that right now hasn’t say a thing. It’s curious, however, to notice how the Ball family has already reached its goal: moving the spotlights of NBA, sneaker, and marketing enthusiasts on its newborn brand, months before the start of the regular season.

You can like it or not, but the Balls are winning. There hasn’t been so much attention on a rookie since the LeBron James era, marketing speak. What’s more: there has never been that much interest in a pair of shoe before. Maybe Lonzo wants to keep all the doors open for other brands by wearing different models, as the father’s brand doesn’t bond him that much. Or maybe is a breakpoint with LaVar management or another way to get free publicity. In any case, we talk about Lonzo Ball. Everyone is talking about Lonzo Ball.