Everything you’re about to read is real.
It hasn’t even a week since we heard that all the major shoe companies reportedly passed on endorsing the potential number one pick in this upcoming NBA draft, Lonzo Ball, but lo and behold, his first signature sneaker has arrived.
The ZO2: Prime by Lonzo Ball is available now for pre-order on the Big Baller Brand’s site for a hefty $495. Yes, you read the right — four hundred and ninety-five dollars.
The ZO2’s feature an OrthoLite insole and a full bed of shock absorbent material that keeps the shoe lightweight for high-speed performance. Additionally, it gets a faux Boost midsole that replicates the Boost look. However, it’s doubtful that it’ll give you the same experience on-court, but we’ll have to wait and see.
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What ever happened to the $200 price tag that LaVar reportedly sought for during his negotiations with brands like Nike, adidas and Under Armour? And what exactly makes the ZO2: Prime by Lonzo Ball worth $495?
If you’re bold enough you can head over to BigBallerBrand.com and pre-order these now, but it is worth noting that your $500 decision isn’t ready to ship and is quoted to ship by November 24.
If this kid has any sense he’ll disown his dad and never look back. Personally see him being just average at the next level, but all this other shit is setting him up to be the Michael Jordan of crashing and burning.
You can also get $200 dollar slides. Oh, no refunds and exchanges soz.
$500 for a pair of KB Mentality replicas, awesome! All this distraction and baggage can only work against him in the draft….
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Yeah, they definitely should. Just chip in for the $500 and draw straws to see who gets to do the review.
Improve Running Cadence.
are they also asking for a lawsuit?
Well, I’ll give them this… When LaVar dreams, he dreams BIG! And who knows? It just might become successful years down the line. Of course more likely it may just blow up in his (LaVar’s and by extension Lonzo’s) face. In any case as off-putting and arrogant LaVar seems to me personally, I have to respect his… y’know… cojones.. for pursuing his dreams
Ya’ll know the moderator ROCK DEEP from NikeTalk, right? lololololol
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Still trying to figure out the grand scheme or social experiment he’s conducting. All the blatant idiocy has to come with something.
Blame Conor McGregor on that one. At least with Conor, he’s ACTUALLY played in the big leagues, been tested (Diaz!) and a champion.
These are straight Fyre!! so yeah, when is the performance review coming out? :)) :)) :))
this is gonna be one expensive wear test for you guys but thank goodness for your public services. Perhaps we should all chip in and crowdfund this one. Afterwards u can deconstruct it and give the pieces back to the investors. I’ll take one of the Bs. Lol
https://www.gofundme.com/LonzoBallPerformanceReview
Awesome. Glad you liked the suggestion. Please look out for a $500 consultative/suggestion fee from my company. Jk. Lol. Let me go fund this thing
Cant wait to see the review on these lol
I know right? I’m hyped about the wear test review.
Honestly doesn’t look that bad aesthetically, even though it borrows elements from a bunch of shoes. Of course, the cushioning is going to be suspect(fake boost, really?). And there is no way I or much of anybody if going to pay 500 for this thing.
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Will NovogasShops shell out $500 to do a performance review on these?
shoes are brand new!
They clearly aren’t trying to corner the market or anything. This is CLEARLY NOT a plot to sell a whole bunch of shoes. At that price point, they’re well aware that their profit margins will be next to 0. The $400 plus coupled with the November ship date = “We are funding this entire project out of our own pocket, lets keep overhead SUPER SUPER low, get the guaranteed money for production upfront, meanwhile, what we’re doing is so outrageous, that this will serve a free promotion”. It’s actually semi-brilliant all things considered.
If anything this is just the Ball family being insistent that they would rather give the industry the middle finger and their cheeks to kiss, than to sell out and take a paltry payment for the use of any of the Ball boys likeness now or at some point in the future.
Laugh it up now, abuse the crying Jordan meme now…but at some point in the future, a kid with Lebron-like potential is gonna have a more savvy group of individuals in his camp…they’re gonna look at what Lavar and the Balls did, improve upon it, and you and all of the other critics making a mockery of this are going to call it “groundbreaking”. It’s silly to be so critical of them at this juncture. They are simply trying something different. Everyone is well aware that the odds are not in their favor at the moment— but so what??
I’ll be the first to admit that Lavar Ball went about this all wrong and in an extremely amateur and regrettable way. He cost his son millions upfront. And Lonzo may never make that money back, but give them some credit for being their own men and not just falling in line.
Someone always has to buck the trends. It’s unfortunate that people feel entitled to clown those that choose to think and act differently!
Wow. Did I miss something? I didn’t see any criticism in the article.
Maybe you buy the sneaker yourself and weartest this one for us and the weartester crew to see what’s up with the $500 price tag?
While there is some truth to what you’re saying. It’s pretty clear that BBB doesn’t have a proper business plan, hence the $495 price tag. Just because they want to “fund” something as opposed to turn a profit, that doesn’t make it a viable plan for their business or for their sons. I can start a salad spinner company with ZERO manufacturing, but I have a little inventory that I can market. Should I start selling these salad spinners 250% above market price? No. That’s not a plan. That’s a joke.
If they want to fund a business they should market it as such, the way they’re going about it now is as if they’re a “name” already. The world decides whether or not you changed it, you can’t tell the world that you did.
Not putting a ‘copy + paste’ function on the first iPhone was also a joke. Removing the headphone jack is still a joke— but we’re adapting aren’t we? It has become the norm whether we agree with it or not. And at some point we’re gonna look back at the 3.5mm headphone jack like we look at VHS tapes. Same with how shoe deals are done in pro sports. Pimping athletes is on its way out of style. Nike and Adidas see the writing on the wall. They just don’t have any incentive to do business with a guy like Lavar Ball…YET! It may never be that Lavar is dictating the terms to one of the big 3 shoe companies instead of the other way around, but I GUARANTEE you somebody will be doing it in the not so distant future.
But I get what you’re saying. I think the plan was to not have a business plan and get as much exposure as possible. Lavar is probably gluing the shoes together himself in his bedroom and when the shoes finally ship people may end up being irate about the shoe’s quality/performance. BUT it’s potentially viable in the sense that Lavar and family are bucking a trend of getting signed and getting used for minimal return. He’s banking on the slim chance that one of his 3 boys builds up enough clout to bring corporate America to their door begging for a PARTNERSHIP and not a .04% cut of lifetime revenue on a singular product. You only live once, I can’t knock that man for dreaming as big as possible.
Lavar even made a good point when he brought up that people initially had the same reaction to uber. The argument was “yeah right! nobody is gonna give a stranger their address, and hop in that stranger’s car to go across town or anywhere for that matter”. Look at Uber now (yes neck deep in controversy, but it’s a billion dollar company and they have put the taxi business to sleep in so many places that the Federal Government had to step in and offer protection to a 100 year old industry that didn’t see changes coming in the form of Uber and Lyft).
Hell, even when the first iPhone came out, people were like “there’s no way I’m getting phone that doesn’t have a physical keyboard! Blackberry till I DIE!” Look at blackberry now! (not saying that Nike will end up like blackberry, just saying that people’s attitudes towards the normal way of doing things change over time).
I’m also not saying that Lavar’s plan is on par with the strategies of tech startups, but there is something positive to be said about not following the status quo.
Lavar is not a likable personality. That does not make him an idiot. Everyone is over simplifying the guy and reducing him to a loud mouthed carnival yard barker because he baited everyone into paying attention to him by speaking in wild hyperbole (see Jordan and Steph Curry comments that he made). He knows what he’s doing. It may appear to be more Herbalife than legitimate, but it’s compelling and its different and everyone reading about it has bought in whether they’re willing to admit it or not.
I’m excited to see what’s next!
dude, $495, $995, and $220 slides, while the shoe steals designs from nike, adidas and even sketchers??? Think and act differently? You mean think and act foolishly? We have the rights to criticize and bash on this because the idea is just stupid. It MIGHT work, but it just doesn’t make any sense
What do you gain from bashing someone? Nothing, right? A conversation has been created. That’s SUCH a positive thing! The whole “I don’t understand what someone else is doing, so I’m going to bash them” is ridiculous and immature! You don’t have to agree with it, but saying “keep shoe deals as they are because I don’t have a better idea” is…well, I’ll let you fill in the blank there…
True, bashing doesn’t solve anything…but charging an overprice shoe is also not “revolutionized”. Again, what he did is incredible, for sure…but if he can lower the price to below 160, no one would bash on it except for the haters. Look at Uber, if you use uber and taxi, you know that uber (overall)is cheaper than taxi, no one would use Uber service if it cost WAY more ($20 for taxi, but have to pay $120 for Uber). So your argument, even tho I agree with your point, the examples don’t add in, and so does Lavar’s overpriced shoe (if he use a 6 times Championship winner, 5 MVPs, heck, even a one time all star like hayward would still make the cut).
Everyone is talking about him and his brand, he already won…
for free ad, sure…to make customer buys the shoe?might not be the case, since people think of it as a joke
You can almost see the space that they left blank waiting for a logo to slap on there.
The 2018-2019 NBA Season already started by November, a lot of new shoes from the Big 3 of Basketball footwear, would someone even preorder an untested shoe?? If NovogasShops will test it around that month, no one can even get it, since it’s not mass produced….can you even make a return if your not satisfied? $500 CAN BUY YOU 3-5 bball shoes, will this lavar shoe last long??
Never saw how the player Lavar plays, but it doesn’t hurt to humble yourself if your good,
Goodluck to anyone who purchases this shoe, Hope it’s worth it.
No wonder everyone in that family has a first name that starts with “L”.
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To be honest they don’t look that bad aesthetically! The shoe looks like a model from Kobe’s signature line with a little Boost in the midsole. They charge too much for these but overall it’s a decent start from Big Baller Brand.
The midsole almost looks almost as bad as like Sketchers Boost imitation Burst. The rest of the shoe doesn’t look half bad. Not sure the materials and tech are really going to add up to a shoe that is worth $495. Best of luck to Lonzo though, kind of want see him succeed because its going to be a train wreck if he doesn’t.
Actually looked at the webpage for the shoe and honestly it doesn’t look all that great. From the page:
“A full bed of shock absorbent material keeps the shoe lightweight for high-speed performance. With a Custom Hand painted the bottom, Microfiber python texture in Matte Black, and a Delorean finish.”
This paragraph makes almost no sense. WTF is a Delorean finish? Also no returns or exchanges lol.
It’s a bunch of bullshit. Use of words to make the shoe sound cool but totally have no relation to the shoe itself. Where the fuck is exactly the microfiber content of the shoe? Delorean is a car from the. Movie back to the future and even that has no similarity to the shoe. And no refunds no exchange policy and no product til november? Hah, I knew from start that there was no product. This is more of a cashgrab for a kickstarter project or worse a scam.
Guys- this is a marketing ploy! And it’s 100% working. Its success is not at all predicated on how many units of this shoe that they sell or don’t sell!
Like someone already mentioned, Lonzo, Lavar and family won already because every media outlet that covers anything related to the NBA is talking about this story.
The Lavar Ball/Nike/Adidas/UA story on ESPN by Darren Rovel is one of the top 5 most viewed articles on ESPN in 2017! The goal was to build buzz/hype behind Lonzo’s stellar play in 1 season at UCLA. Goal accomplished.
The shoe will at best be a collector’s item if Lonzo ends up being a good player.
It’s so annoying and typical to see vitriol aimed at Lavar everywhere (the crying jordan meme is more appropriately placed on a Li-Ning or Anta shoe review lol!) The way I look at it is- hey, at least he’s trying! If you watch their promo video Lonzo says that they had dreams of having something that they owned. I think everyone reading this that has a desk job or something where they aren’t the boss wishes that they were their own boss. Lonzo is no different. Why work for the man when you can work for and pay yourself?
And I don’t even think Lavar wants anyone to weartest the shoe. He has not entered the performance athletic wear space, this is strictly marketing so that in a few years, Nike or Adidas will come back at least wanting to have a serious conversation about a mutually beneficial business relationship instead of one where his son’s image and likeness are pimped like a woman of the streets!
10 people will purchase this shoe, but millions are talking about it. Sit with that for a little while and think about the potential implications of that.
Nope.
Good or bad, as long as they talk about us ……..
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We talk about sports and performances, and today Lonzo Ball does not represent anything. It’s just a very good player who still has everything to prove.
The deal with one of the big brands would have allowed to launch the machine. Even if that means working, in the beginning, on sportswear products, less technical, but more mass-market.
There, directly, a signature shoe. A performance shoe ….. At a price 2.5 times higher than the best models of the moment …..
I want the family Ball to live its dream, and shake the game a little. But it’s very amateurish.
Well said. It really is crazy how many people love/love to hate Lavar Ball. I can’t wait for Lonzo to get to the NBA to see what kind of drama is going to happen. I can only imagine the media circus that would happen if he got drafted by the Knicks.
He is going after a market of people who will buy things just for the status of owning something really expensive. They are also playing up the angle of being an independent black owned business who are profiting off themselves and not allowing a corporation to dictate the terms. That is going to resonate with a lot of rich athletes. A lot of dudes have already come out in support and bought the shoe (Arian Foster, Michael Bennet, Chad Ocho Cinco).
Now, I dont know too much on how much it would const to produce these in a limited quantity ,but they are doing this on a pre-order basis, so they will know exactly how much they will need to produce. I’m guessing they are hoping to get enough celebrity co-signs to endorse the product that it will eventually trickle down to the rich younger consumers who will feel pressure to buy it as a status symbol.
No idea if that business model can work. The amount of free advertising Lavar is getting is insane though. It is comical to see how much people hate on him for trying. You dont like the shoes and the pricing? Just move along, the more you hate and spread jokes around you are just feeding into what Lavar wants: people to talk about his brand.
BINGO!
I was gong to say something similar to what you mentioned later in your comment. I think they are already winners in this situation. As I’m making the 39th one, I’ve never seen this much comment on any other topic at weartesters.
winners? like how much did they earn for the longest time his company existed? all of this is just hype. point is, money is a difference maker.
Key word that you used here is “rich.” If the market for these is indeed people who buy stuff just because it’s expensive, then I guess it is what it is. People buy Yeezys all the time, and those are trash and expensive as well, and people buy them just to say they bought them.
Please don’t tell me y’all plan on reviewing these ?
Of course they aren’t going to cost $200 anymore if they’re doing it independently. Jordan can make shoes in china for literally 10 cents, but they are doing it out of their own factory over in Chino Hills, out of their own pocket, they can’t help the price tag, they obviously wanted it at $200 but they wouldn’t be able to break even at all if they did that. I like the shoe a lot actually and hope that they get enough money so lower the price tag so I can get them before my college ball season next winter
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I just love how “Ortholight” has the copyright symbol and they spelled it wrong…
I’m not a Ball family hater and I don’t want to see LaVar or Lonzo fail but the price point on these shoes is crazy. I hear what everyone is saying the shoe doesn’t look bad and possibly could be a good on court performer, but the shoe isn’t the only basketball shoe on the market. The tech is unproven and the bigger brands, even Nike, have been giving us top of the line tech at lower than usual prices. Then there are the newer lesser known brands like BrandBlack and Q4 they seem to have quality sneakers but everyone complains that their prices are too high for unproven brands but they are nowhere near $500. While they don’t look bad I don’t think anyone is going to buy them for casual use, so the question is who are these shoes for, die hard Lonzo Ball fans, sneaker heads, hypebeasts? If I had an extra $500 to spend on sneakers I’m copping a pair of Shattered Backboards not these.
price isnt the issue. there are plenty of rich people who spend money on stupid things just bc they can. in fact the price helps market the shoe. what kills it is the lousy logos and the faux boost texture. change those things and ppl would buy it
True, the materials sucks, brand logos suck ass(not the main problem), but the worst part is the fake boost and using other brands’ design….If he use premium materials (or looks premium), a more creative design, at least original design…I would think of buying it (cause it’s lonzo’s, not lavar’s)
LaVar should use the sales from the first quarter of these atrocious things to fix his teeth. Some braces and teeth whitening should do it.
must have owed a lot of money from Tony Soprano.
I think it’s a misprint. Was supposed to be $49.50, Walmart exclusive.