Foster has been friends with LaVar Ball for nearly 10 years, and owns 16.3% of the Big Baller BrandGETTY IMAGES
Lakers G LONZO BALL has "severed ties with a co-founder of Big Baller Brand over concerns that the longtime family friend has a criminal past and also has not adequately accounted for the whereabouts" of roughly $1.5M from Ball's personal and business accounts, according to Shelburne & Lavigne of ESPN.com. ALAN FOSTER has been a friend of LAVAR BALL for "almost a decade" and owns 16.3% of Big Baller Brand. Lonzo Ball said he believes Foster had "used his access to my business and personal finances to enrich himself. As a result, I have decided to sever all ties with Alan, effective immediately." Foster has "served as the business manager of all of the Ball family's companies, including Big Baller Brand -- which was formed as a limited liability company" in '14. Foster "developed a close friendship with the Ball family" beginning around '10. According to documents, Lonzo Ball owns 51% of Big Baller Brand, and his father 16.4%. Lonzo's mother and Foster each own 16.3%. In addition to his work with Big Baller Brand and LaVar's Junior Basketball Association, Foster "appeared in almost every episode" of the Facebook Watch series "Ball in the Family" (ESPN.com, 3/23).
CAUTIONARY TALE: ESPN's Jalen Rose said he did not want this situation to "discourage other people from trying" to start their own shoe brand. However, anyone that does so must "make sure you have the right people navigating your affairs for you." ESPN's Jay Williams said Big Baller Brand had a "lot more energy put into selling than the actual execution of the strategy on how to actually help the product" (“Get Up,” ESPN, 3/25).
