Guess who’s coming to Ohio? LaMelo Ball the youngest son of the Ball family is coming to Ohio to “train like a champion.” In the coolest reception ever, a LeBron-James-esque billboard now looms over I-90 to welcome LaMelo to the Buckeye state.
If you’ve met one ball, you’ve likely met them all. All ballers, there’s LiAngelo Ball, who plays for the Los Angeles Ballers of the Junior Basketball Association. LiAngelo is currently seeking an NBA G League contract. Lonzo Ball, now playing alongside LeBron James, is a point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers. The Top Ball, LaVar Ball, who spun through the NBA world like an orange hurricane, is a beloved sports talk show guest and a one-man marketing machine. It’s no wonder the Big Baller Brand family has their own reality TV show.
LaMelo, who had been pulled out of high school to play overseas by his outspoken and gregarious father, has returned to the states to play at Spire Academy in Geneva, Ohio. Spire Academy, a United States Olympic and Paralympic Training site, is an international high school and post-graduate academy focused on developing and preparing student-athletes for success in college. Emphasizing academic, athletic, leadership, and character development, the prestigious academy is the ultimate environment for cultivating strong minds, bodies, and character to help student-athletes reach their maximum potential.
Whether the family puts a hair ball in your throat or not, doing it Big Baller style, the Ball brothers are among the most famous basketball players anywhere in the world. To welcome LaMelo to Cleveland, Overtime, a sports network, put up the billboard on I-90.
“Overtime has covered LaMelo throughout his career, generating millions of views for videos of him. So we thought it would be pretty epic to celebrate his return to high school with a billboard, playing on another famous Cleveland billboard.” –Overtime’s COO Ali Nicholas
As the youngest Baller spreads his arms, as though opening himself to the fame and basketball fortune of native-son LeBron James, “Welcome to Ohio, LaMelo,” the billboard reads.
The billboard, which is near W. 3rd Street, is, of course, not far from Quicken Loans Arena.
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Cool, huh?
OMG! Can you believe these haters in Ohio are boycotting playing against Spire Academy because LaMelo has played professionally for HIS FATHER’S Lithuanian team? I say, get your sorry behinds on that 3-point line and start practicing. Sports is about winning AND losing. If you lose, it’s not because LaMelo played professionally, it’s because your team sucks. Win or lose, my household still loves the Cavs—with or without LeBron!!!
Since the NCAA will likely not view LaMelo Ball as an eligible amateur, that leaves LaMelo with a couple of options before he can enter the NBA Draft in 2020. Should he opt not to return to Europe, he could stay in prep school for another year, or he could play in the G-League next season. My bet is he stays in prep school.