LaVar Ball has said that his sons LiAngelo and LaMelo plan to play professional basketball overseas, and it appears the Ball brothers are on the verge of signing with a team.
Adrian Wojnarowski and Jonathan Givony of ESPN reported on Monday that LiAngelo and LaMelo are in “serious discussions” to sign with Lithuanian club Prienu Vytautas.
Story filed to ESPN with @DraftExpress: LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball are in serious discussions to sign professional basketball deals with Lithuanian club Prienu Vytautas. Club plans to decide in next 24-to-48 hours whether to finalize an agreement with the two American teenagers.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 11, 2017
The Ball brothers are not expected to see major playing time for Prienu Vytautas in the Lithuanian (LKL) league, but could be afforded an opportunity to develop in the Baltic (BBL) League, where the stakes are much lower. The club must decide whether to pull the trigger first. https://t.co/XIihTVnZMD
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) December 11, 2017
As Givony notes, not many American players have played for Prienu Vytautas in the past. The team is based in a very small town in Lithuania, and salaries for players are not very high.
From what I'm told, salaries for players at this level of competition usually don't exceed $500 per month in the absolute best case. It wouldn't surprise me if the Ball brothers ended up playing for free. Certainly not the most glamorous league or part of the world to live in.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) December 11, 2017
Prienu Vytautas has only had one American player on their roster in the past decade, Brad Tinsley, who departed after a month of action, according to my research. The Balls would likely be faced with a major culture shock in Prienai, a small village of around 10,000 people.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) December 11, 2017
LaVar Ball pulled his 16-year-old son LaMelo out of high school in Chino Hills, Calif., last month and then had LiAngelo, 19, quit the UCLA basketball team more recently. The elder Ball explained that LiAngelo only went to UCLA to play basketball, and he felt his suspension from his shoplifting incident in China was dragging out too long.
We have already seen one Lithuanian basketball coach take a shot at the Ball family, so it will be interesting to see if the deal is finalized.
