LaVar Ball is “restructuring” Big Baller Brand and plans to relaunch a new website, according to a company spokesman.
The company has been effectively defunct for several months in the wake of a financial and legal dispute with his former business partner Alan Foster.
The company’s previous website now redirects to a webinar featuring Foster.
“The Big Baller Brand is alive and well,” Denise White, a representative for LaVar Ball, told ESPN. “The brand has been restructuring and we are working to reveal the new website in the next few weeks. It will have a new look and new name (www.BigBallerBrandInc.com).
“LaVar Ball has put a great team of seasoned industry professionals in place to move the brand forward with exciting new products along with signature shoes and sportswear under the Ball name. Unfortunately Alan Foster continues to try and leverage the Ball Family name for his own gain. Alan Foster is a convicted felon who served 7 years in jail for defrauding people out of their money. He is a thief and con man and cannot be believed or trusted.”
According to legal documents obtained by The Blast earlier this month, Foster alleges that Ball embezzled more than $2.6 million from Big Baller Brand and other companies associated with the Ball family, including Ball Sports Group, to fund an extravagant lifestyle.
Foster states that his lawsuit “seeks to set the record straight, clear his name, expose LaVar’s scheme to cover up his theft of over $2.6 million of BBB and BSG’s money, and hold LaVar and Lonzo to their contractual obligations.”
The Ball family denied Foster’s claims in a statement at the time.
In April, Lonzo Ball filed suit against Foster for damages of more than $2 million, plus interest, alleging that Foster “conspired to embezzle millions of dollars and then divert those funds for his personal use, including to acquire assets in Ethiopia.”
Ball severed ties with Foster in March over concerns that the longtime family friend had a criminal past and had not adequately accounted for the whereabouts of roughly $1.5 million from Ball’s personal and business accounts.