Lonzo Ball, Rejected By Nike And Adidas, Launches Own Expensive And Weird-Looking Shoe

If you were to believe LaVar Ball, his son Lonzo (who's playing for UCLA's basketball team) is better than NBA superstar Stephen Curry. That's a pretty bold statement, considering that Curry did a little thing called being named the NBA's Most Valuable Player two years in a row. But whatever, LaVar is the same guy who said he could beat Michael Jordan one-on-one.

You know who didn't buy into LaVar's claims? The major shoe companies. As reported at ESPN, Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour all turned down Lonzo when discussion of a sneaker deal came up. It's likely that the companies were looking at the fact that Lonzo wasn't even playing in the NBA yet. Another factor could have been the proposal itself; LaVar actually insisted that the companies license his very own "Big Baller Brand," and even brought out prototypes of this hypothetical Lonzo shoe. Basically, LaVar was trying to boss around the three biggest athletic apparel companies on the planet, and it didn't work.

As you may have figured out by now, LaVar is not one to give up. So what the Ball family did was release the shoe themselves, reports Sports Illustrated. At first glance you'll notice the price tag: the shoe is expensive, as in it-starts-at-$495 expensive. No one in the NBA has a shoe that costs that much. That's like five times more costly than Curry's sneakers. Even LeBron James hasn't succumbed to such levels of hubris!

There's also the matter of its styling. It looks a little like a coin purse made of snakeskin:

If snakeskin coin purses are your thing, you can get a signed edition for a paltry $995. And hey, check out these slippers sandals that'll set you back $220:

Of course, Twitter went right to work when the announcement was made:

You can pre-order the shoes right now at the Big Baller Brand site. The shoes will start shipping by November 24, 2017. And, as the website informs us: "No Refunds or Exchanges."