LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball Sign With Lithuanian Club
LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball have signed one year contracts with Lithuanian club BC Prienai, The Vertical’s Shams Charania reports.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Jonthan Givony reported earlier Monday that the Balls were “in serious discussions” to sign with the club but the team would decide whether to move forward with the deal in the next 24 to 48 hours.
The teens’ father, LaVar, pulled them from their respective schools earlier this year—first removing LaMelo from Chino Hills High School before the start of his junior basketball season, then withdrawing LiAngelo from UCLA before the freshman even appeared in a game. (LiAngelo and two teammates had been suspended indefinitely after sparking an international incident by shoplifting in China.)
The pair then signed with their older brother Lonzo’s agent, Harrison Gaines, and began weighing their international options.
The brothers are unlikely to see much action in the domestic league “but could be afforded an opportunity to develop” in Baltic League play, Givony reports.
Prienai—also called Vytautas after the mineral water company that sponsors the team—is one of 10 clubs in the Lithuanian league, playing its home games at a gym with 1,500 seats. The town of Prienai has fewer than 10,000 residents.
LaMelo, the youngest of the three Ball brothers, is considered a far better pro prospect than LiAngelo and will have to play three seasons overseas before he is eligible for the NBA draft. (LiAngelo is not considered an NBA caliber player.)
