Lavar Ball has made his way into the spotlight in a very short time as a loud mouth dad. Some think negatively about his actions while others have started to see what Ball has been able to create. He has most recently used that energy to establish a new avenue for young basketball players called the Junior Baller League.
LAVAR's JBA takes Chicago!
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Xavier Sanchez (@Xavier_Sanchez4) July 22, 2018
The vision for the league was to compete with the NCAA by allowing the league’s athletes to get paid while still getting to play basketball and traveling to different arenas around the country.
Chicago was one of eight cities that the league played in during their regular season. They played those first two Chicago games at the newly built Wintrust Arena. Wintrust Arena is currently home to the DePaul Blue Demons and Chicago Sky.
The second game was set to be a match up between Lavar’s son LaMelo and Chicagoan Kezo Brown. That was not the case as Brown dropped out of the league to join a team in France. Nothing has been confirmed yet on him playing in France.
About 430 fans ended up being witness to a competitive game between the new-look Chicago Ballers and the Los Angeles Ballers. LiAngelo and LaMelo lead they charge in LA’s 130-122 win over Chicago in Chicago.
LaMelo Ball (@MELOD1P) during an interview with the Chicago media last Saturday.
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Xavier Sanchez (@Xavier_Sanchez4) July 26, 2018
Other than the games, there is a lot to take in. The Big Baller Brand hosts a pop-up shop which sells merchandise including shirts, shoes, hats, and lanyards. Gelo rolled through before his game to grab a shirt.
Fans swarmed the pop-up shop when it was announced Lavar Ball would be doing a meet-and-greet before his sons’ game. A majority of the fans met him up there for it but he did not stay to finish the line.
He is a crowd-pleaser so he continued down by the court shortly after and two more times the rest of the night.
This was not the last stop for the JBA in Chicago either. Friday, June 2 at Quest Multi-sport, the league’s All-Star game will take place. There will be a 3-point shooting contest, a dunk contest, and the All-Star game. The West team will be coached by Lavar Ball and the East team by Alan Foster.
Tickets are still available and you can probably still get one at the door. The Big Baller Brand will also have a pop-up shop inside the building.
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