Lonzo Ball (Finally) Admits His Big Baller Brand Sneakers May Have Caused His Nagging Knee Injury

Source: Michael Reaves / Getty

After more than three years absent, Lonzo Ball‘s return to the Chicago Bulls lineup has been one of the biggest comeback stories in the NBA this year.

Now, he’s sitting down with ESPN to talk about everything from winning summer league MVP in 2017 to his journey back to the locker room.

But much of that early success –as well as his brother LiAngelo and LaMelo’s– came at the tutelage of their father LaVar Ball. LaVar never misses a chance to prop up his Big Baller Brand (BBB), where he hocked several different products but it all began with the sneakers.

And at first, Lonzo admits that he was a big fan of adidas footwear in high school, but after no brands came knocking as he entered the NBA, he decided to wear BBB. But there was only one problem– they couldn’t withstand the intensity of an NBA game, with him telling ESPN they were “like kickball shoes,” and “unwearable.”

Lonzo says that, ahead of the summer league, he and his manager went to Foot Locker before the game to get a new pair of sneakers, ranging from Nike to Air Jordan and Steph Curry’s Under Armour.

LaVar tried to improve the product as BBB’s next iteration was Skechers –which the Laker rookie wore the entire season– but Lonzo says his father’s brand could still have been the catalyst for his constant knee issues.

“I think it’s a possibility for sure, to be honest with you,” Ball said. “I wasn’t really getting hurt like that until I started wearing them.

It started with an arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in 2018, then another tear in 2022, and then in May 2024, he had a meniscus transplant.

Still, Lonzo is hesitant to put all the blame on BBB, adding that it could be because of all the basketball he played on concrete as a kid.

“My uncle used to always tell me, ‘Y’all play too much outside,’ because we were playing super hard in the backyard. That’s on concrete,” Ball said. “That was at least 15 years. So I mean, all that, over time, it can’t be good for your knees.”

But cartilage issues or not, Lonzo thinks that all of his experiences have allowed him to be the basketball player he is today.

“I don’t feel like I would be where I’m at if I didn’t do all that stuff,” Ball said. “All the work that we put in, it could have hurt, but it also made us who we are. ”

Read the entire feature about Ball, including insider information from his top-notch read specialist John Meyer, the process of getting a donated meniscus from a cadaver, and finally being cleared to play again, here.

See how social media is reacting to the Lonzo’s thoughts on rocking BBB below.

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