LeBron James trolls Lonzo Ball over wearing Nike shoes

When Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball submitted his best game of the Las Vegas summer league wearing Nike shoes, not Big Baller Brand, speculation about LaVar Ball’s son being better without his father’s signature sneaker experiment went wild.

Instead of wearing his own Big Baller Brand ZO2s, Ball opted to rock purple Nikes – Kobe ADs. They will be playing Thursday night against the No. 2 seed Cleveland Cavaliers at 10:30 PM ET/7:30 PM PT.

Ball told reporters afterward he wanted to emulate former Lakers guard Kobe Bryant and embrace a “Mamba mentality”.

“Just thought I’d switch it up”, Ball added.

And here’s the kicker: LeBron James, arguably Nike’s biggest ambassador, was in the stands to witness Ball’s big game first-hand. Ball has been a huge draw in Las Vegas. “It was about the team”, said Ball, who nonetheless expressed displeasure over his errors.

Aggressive all night, Ball topped off his impressive dime and board numbers with an explosive 36 points. Two clutch late free throws from Lakers center Ivica Zubac sealed the deal. Philly was led by Furkan Korkmaz’s 19 points and Alex Poythress’ 16-point outing.

Turnovers, of which the Sixers committed only four prior to Wednesday’s intermission break, ultimately caught up with the team, and allowed the Lakers to scratch their way back into the game.

After two underwhelming scoring outings by Ball, he showed the basketball world just what he is made of with this heroic performance. He had 11 rebounds and six blocks in the final preliminary game. Nike model on Wednesday Night in summer league action. He shot 2-for-15 from the field in his first game, netting five points.

We’ve entered the fourth season of the annual South Point-lined Play of the Day competition, effective July 1.