Lavar Ball's Biggest Scam: What Happened to the JBA?

Lavar Ball's Junior Basketball Association was not only a failure of a business, but a predatory league that crushed the career hopes of most of it's players. Today we cover the scam of a product you may know as the JBA.

[@swishcountyproductions]

Subscribe while you’re here we’re closing in on 10k:)

[@dumerkoff]

I think the jba existed to get the ball brothers into the NBA. Once that task was completed the league itself had no further reason to keep going.

[@tradtrad1000]

Obviously

[@seanseams6308]

Also expensive asl to run so for sure

[@JH-yc4cz]

Nah the media just hated on a good idea from lavar

[@GARBO96]

That's what it turned out to be you were an investor you would have been scammed because that's not what he stated at all

[@robertwicker2303]

Shit it worked lol

[@Goxilla]

Selling trash shoes for over 500$ is already a big scam

[@topsykretts2264]

People are stupid for even buying Walmart quality shoes 😂

[@tacos4917]

Them shoes wasnt trash but the price nah

[@Goxilla]

@@tacos4917 yes they were absolute garbage. Lonzo Ball didn't want to wear them anymore even though it was partially his brand

[@yesmanyrangel9328]

Netflix should make a documentary about this and with players and what they are up to now and what they had to sacrifice

[@zhaneranger]

It was made for the ball brothers. But people forgot that it ruined the other boys chances of playing in the NCAA and the got dumped once the league ended

[@athenstar10]

EXACTLY.

[@alexgreen1823]

Honestly it was a dumb decision to follow this clown. Little sympathy for those fools

[@Taylzz]

AND YET, two of the three Ball brothers are currently playing in the NBA. Can't really argue with the mans process.

[@guyrandom1]

@@Taylzz He just did. 🎤

[@xmanc5687]

@@Taylzz Lonzo was in the NBA before the JBL and Lamelo was going to the NBA anyways. This didnt help anyone. He conned the other kids, but some of the blame falls on those kids for trying to take the easy way to the NBA.

[@ogkenbone_]

Wow crazy how something this shady just got forgotten

[@swishcountyproductions]

That’s 2023 for ya Preciate ya watching

[@NinjaFingers19]

How was it shady? It failed and that’s ok. It wasn’t a scam.

[@kenny9582]

​@NinjaFingers19 did you hear the part about not paying kids their promised salaries?

[@VenomousStare]

Happens on a daily basis lol.

[@christian-gu5oq]

@@kenny9582 that’s very common with pro ball

[@athenstar10]

This was like getting a pool of young men an sucking all their hopes, dreams and potential so his 3 sons can get all of that.

[@AiirxGeordan]

Honestly, who gave the players guidance? I mean going into this league makes sense for guys that played all their years of eligibility in college and didn’t get drafted, but to give up your years of eligibility for a bush league that doesn’t show any signs of surviving sounds dumb. I mean let’s say this league does get off the ground and does everything it promised. Do nba scouts see this guy average 20 and 8 in a league with no real structure, and no proven players or coaches, and draft him instead of a guy that averaged 15 and 8 in the ACC? It’s still a gamble that isn’t in your favor.

[@4k-clapzz_928]

Well said

[@Kagemusha08]

If a charasmatic snake oil salesman screams at the top of his lungs that he's going to change the world and makes a bunch of promises some people will always buy it. Most of the players here weren't top recruits. Given the choice between grinding away in a smaller D1 or even D2 program and getting a bit of cash in a league ran by this bullshit artist who at the time seemed like one of the biggest names in basketball the JBA players felt that the latter was their best shot at making the NBA. Feel bad for the kids. Getting a college scholarship to get an education, with the upside of maybe even getting drafted, beats the hell out of barely getting any cash to flush your dreams down the toilet.

[@user-nr2ku9dk9b]

This channel has so much potential. There's such a wide range of interesting topics you cover that aren't covered anywhere else. I'm excited to see what else you have in store.

[@swishcountyproductions]

That's really nice of you to say man, thank you for the support!

[@wonderfulworldofmarkets9033]

Bro he did little to no research and just shit on Lavar trying to start a business. No one got "robbed" the business failed like most startups. What dumbass takes. "The seats were too expensive" yeah no shit, how much do you think renting an arena costs? Its definitely unfortunate players didn't get paid, but they're adults they knew the risk they were taking joining an upstart league. I don't think Lavar is a bad guy unless there's blatant evidence he robbed the league.

[@Rickyralph]

I’m glad somebody finally made a video. It seem like after Melo got drafted & thinking Gelo was too it disbanded. I thought it was awfully suspicious out of nowhere. The whole JBA disappeared. He didn’t care about any other boys, but his sons. It’s sad that he did a lot of other kids wrong just to see his children go to the league.

[@mamster233]

of course he has to look after his sons primarily over everyone else...

[@mangatreek4868]

But he destroyed a lotta kids careers and didn’t pay them

[@arthurfhackingshelby9631]

@@mamster233 ball dickrider ?

[@tru6029]

@@mamster233Now only one boy plays , Karma hit different 🥴

[@mamster233]

@@mangatreek4868 I don't know what they were promised but the players should have known that they were taking a big risk by joining a new start up league. The NCAA has been around for nearly a hundred years and the NCAA D1 guys are looked after REALLY well.

[@Kagemusha08]

This was when Lavar's ego really got out of control and those kids paid for it. Seriously, a league full of teams with zero identity (all called the same name lmao) and mostly subpar players that charges absurd ticket prices, and he thought it was going to work? Hell, even the jerseys looked like shit, and that's supposed to be his wheelhouse. You can tell the dude reads way too many Law of Attraction books and not enough actual buisness books.

[@robman1081]

breaks the ncaa steal record before the season even starts lol

[@MarquisdeSuave]

Whoa whoa whoa, BBB was Ball's biggest scam. 500 dollar sneakers that were quite literally destroyed Lonzo Ball's ankles.

[@swishcountyproductions]

Looks like you found the Swish county rabbit hole lmao

[@moose7454]

I think we all knew it was probably gonna be a scam. I miss the days of Lavar’s shenanigans being everyday news. Like when he was openly feuding with the Latvian coach or trying to peddle “Big Baller Water” lmao

[@user-vg8ox3he1i]

I'm shocked that people with so much money have absolutely ZERO sense for business. If you want a highschool league to succeed you need....highschool fans. Tickets should be $5-20 and concessions should be cheaper than a movie. Local highschool musical acts should do pre-games, and if you show up halfway through you get in for free. You need to fill stadiums each and every game. Jerseys should be $40. Priced to match highschool budgets. The whole thing is just ridiculous.

[@unknowndayglo7455]

The craziest thing to me is that there are people out there who respect Lavar Ball

[@AMaidenlessRunt]

As a father the boys couldn't ask for anybody else he raised those kids right. That's the only respects

[@christian-gu5oq]

He was a trailblazer everyone has copied what he did from the shoes to the league. He just didn’t have experience in it so ofc he failed sometimes

[@thetruthandnothingbutthetr6484]

@@christian-gu5oqwho copied the shoes ? Who copied the league ? Bet I prove you to be a liar

[@unknowndayglo7455]

@@AMaidenlessRunt didn't one of his kids get caught thieving overseas, he fuckin nailed it

[@vincenthammons-kd9du]

@@AMaidenlessRunt he just lives through his kids and sees them as lavar clones from what i can tell he is just a narcissist.

[@eksit101]

I would have thought it was the shoes that ruined his son's career.

[@tanthom32]

Makes you wonder how much revenue the JBA actually generated during its short life. If you want to pay players, you’re going to have to generate significant revenues. Like a lot of over ambitious startups, they burn through cash quickly and don’t have the revenue streams to keep going.

[@sp123]

Bruh Im taking accounting classes and it's opened my mind in how this stuff works

[@Christian-eq6pq]

Guarantee they lost money but end of the day it didn’t matter because the only goal was to get Lamelo ready to go pro. Look at how many people were in the crowd during Lamelo’s games. Mind you, Lamelo was the biggest draw in the league. Now imagine the other games with people nobody knows on a national level. This isn’t to mention the fact BBB was funding the league and BBB’s manager was stealing money and that brand pretty much collapsed not too soon after. The reason most of the players didn’t get their paid salary is because they didn’t have the money they assumed that the backend from sales would be a big enough profit to offer incentives and share of sales to players but they were actually in the red so that was not possible.

[@williamfoxlord]

Thanks Einstein

[@philippebien5429]

You just said a whole lot of nothing mixed with bs.

[@Strawhatj824]

It’s crazy that lamelo even made it considering how lavar derailed his development at every turn

[@christian-gu5oq]

I think he actually helped him tremendously

[@Andrew-Ryan]

@@christian-gu5oq I’d almost agree. Maybe not his mental development but definitely his basketball development. How many kids get to play pros? Not a lot I’d think.

[@JT-sk3mg]

You are a moron

[@deandelg6686]

Do a vid about players who gave up after contract years

[@swishcountyproductions]

Interesting idea, I’ll note that down

[@maxmurray7283]

Nba changed the rules and now you can go to the gleague out of highschool right around the same time honestly think he had something to do with it being changed

[@tradtrad1000]

Yep a very underrated change that might just have to be credited to Lavar and the JBA Loool

[@CM-ft9ep]

@@tradtrad1000 The G League's changes was years in the making, to think they hadn't thought of this before Lavar did it is silly.

[@will-zj5gq]

@@CM-ft9ep of course they thought of it but lavar speed that way tf up.

[@darnelllincoln6026]

​@@CM-ft9ep the NBA wasn't even remotely considering allowing players to jump straight in from high school though, which was one of the main selling points for a lot of the talent they attracted. Once the NBA noticed they very quickly sped the progression of the G-League to what it is today. In turn of the NBA's actions and other pressures, the NCAA finally allowed the college athletes to make a profit of their own image. Love or hate the man, Lavar Ball was the man that kicked the most impactful dominoes down that set things in motion for young athletes today aspiring to make it into the pros.

[@CM-ft9ep]

@@darnelllincoln6026 sorry, NIL is a direct result of the NCAA losing its lawsuit filed by Ed O’Bannon, which was filed in 2015. That court loss led to NIL, not anything Lavar Ball ever did. And not for nothing, JBA was a massive failure, so how exactly did it force the NBA to change things?

[@ChanGardeningToolPark]

Isn't OTE basically the JBA v2 but with actual investors and organizational structure?

[@iammjayyyy]

Basically

[@swishcountyproductions]

yep

[@ChanGardeningToolPark]

@Swish County that makes laver ball a visionary LOL

[@swishcountyproductions]

Guess you could say that lol

[@IvanVikktor715]

@@ChanGardeningToolPark it makes him a two bit hustler. Run of the mill con artist.

[@drethom087]

Bruh, that steal record joke got me so bad!! I was like what???? He did have defense then it hit me 😂😂😂😂

[@recration]

From a business standpoint, he did everything you could possibly do wrong.

[@pnickerson]

Lonzo refused to pay for it anymore. First lavar lived off his wife who had a government job. Lavar was fitness trainer lol. Then he livedvof lonzo and cost poor lonzo 10s of millions of dollars.

[@waf6235]

That filomara fire transition yessir W editing software

[@swishcountyproductions]

Need that sponsor

[@toasted7135]

really wondered what happened to the jba, it vanished in mid air

[@chrisjacobs9101]

I’m glad someone called this out made dudes give up their eligibility for a small Check and 12 months and dudes wasn’t even getting paid that much only did it for his kids that’s some sad stuff

[@brybry865]

Lavar hustle was top tier

[@chanb9040]

by scamming people? Should be in jail

[@arstolotle]

Ong, dude will do anything for his family and image, I respect it though lol

[@sdot5389]

He’s a jackass. He overtrained his kids and now they all have busted legs in one way or another. Lonzo and Liangelo are done and I give Lamelo less than 5 years before he has catastrophic leg injury that he won’t come back from. He’s already injury prone.

[@14isoldenough]

I remember when people called lavar a good dad. Yall were fools.

[@brentduanefoster]

Man, some of us saw this coming a mile away!!! Lavar’s ego and his got way too big, and people defended his actions.

[@hoophoudini]

Ote and the NBA Gleague 17u Rule change is what happened lavar definitely hit the nail with the idea Ote just Executed better

[@swishcountyproductions]

The idea was good, someone was bound to pick it up and run with it. I still heavily question the intentions behind doing it though to begin with

[@Stunna397]

It did what it was supposed to do imo which was inspire other ppl with bigger capital to start leagues with this M.O…for example g league ignite nd OTE

[@Hexa1123]

People love to pretend like Lavar is a great dad. But if he followed the conventional way of entering the league and didn’t train his kids to death, they might be functional ball players today. People got so shocked to see a present father that they leaped at the opportunity to prematurely congratulate Lavar for nothing.

[@leo_wentzel]

Idk, if it weren’t for Lavar, his sons wouldn’t have had nearly as much hype around them. They came into the league and started selling out jerseys and making a shit ton of money. Who knows if the Ball brothers would’ve actually been good in the NBA, but even though they “haven’t” they’ve already made more money they could ever possibly use. Lavar helped to set them up for financial success and generational wealth. I won’t go as far as to say that makes lavar a good person, but as a dad I think he did a fairly good job

[@MikeBNumba6]

@@leo_wentzel agreed. There's good and bad that came with him

[@Anon-qp3kt]

Lavar is a hustler and he won’t use morality. You can respect the effort but he is a disgusting person

[@Youngclarke21]

"Break the NCAA steal record...." 😂😂 What a great line LMFAO

[@yae7467]

i mean opened the way for the ignite team and ote. he just didn’t have the funds like them definitely had the idea and plan. looking back lavar had the ideas just couldn’t support it

[@KyrieBron]

Who would have taught He did it for his boys and succeed in 1 of his goals

[@sliverslifer4009]

technically 2 i have faith lonzo is just recovering and taking his time so his injuring doesn’t have to come back anymore

[@KyrieBron]

@@sliverslifer4009 lonzo never played in the JBA I’m talking about leangelo

[@deehines5750]

Liangelo is in the G league. He's not NBA talent. He showed that during preseason.

[@sdot5389]

@@deehines5750 He’s not even G League talent. He only played 3 games this year averaging less than 3 points and is also injured like his brothers.

[@sdot5389]

@@sliverslifer4009 Lonzos career is most likely over. Lamelo, while talented is also injury prone….just like all his other brothers.

[@brocode5984]

Cool vid but some constructive feed back. You didn’t really say what happened to the league just what happened during its time. Wish you would’ve went into further detail about what came about and when did it officially end.

[@kingpablo812]

the jba had more fans than the wnba

[@randysavelljr5324]

Lavaar Ball as a whole is basketballs biggest scam😂

[@MrJoeolive]

I don't understand how basketball isn't able to have a successful junior league like hockey.

[@davidwilliamson8502]

I wonder how much of this “we only got 1/3 our pay” is just 16-21 year olds first time learning what taxes are 😂

[@rileymcphee9429]

JBA started in 2017 while G- League Ignite, the legitimate alternative to NCAA, didn't start until 2020. I feel so bad for the players who got scammed in those three years.

[@thomasmontgomery805]

Another great video

[@swishcountyproductions]

Preciate it man👊

[@ALmizzle415]

Can’t sugar coat it. The players who chose the jba route over college were dumb as hell.

[@michaelpaullang4401]

Tbh a lot of things lavar did set stepping stones for kids today like overtime league and stuff like that but just poorly executed

[@IMSLIMEFR]

facts he dumb he could’ve made more pape

[@loopseeker]

you are giving credit where it is not due

[@Anon-qp3kt]

Not Lavar’s actions at all.

[@herohour6496]

This was the G-league. Ball is a genius. He just needed the capital.

[@grantwilson3219]

Every team name the Ballers 😂😂😂

[@rocknationac7332]

Lavar Ball's tragic flaw was his complete lack of common business sense: It should have occurred to him that anything the JBA could do, the NBA and NCAA could do better!

[@daviddavis5800]

The G League didn't force the NCAA to change it was the courts. The NCAA got sued and lost which allowed student athletes to make NIL money.

[@jakeMontejo3272]

Alan Foster was cleared of those allegations, I believe the case was dropped by the Balls.

[@deehines5750]

Lavar said he was making more money doing the JBA international team tour than having a league back in the states but they were cutting players and sending them home left and right. Then Lamelo got in the fight where he bitch slapped that one dude like an offended Karen 😂 and they called it quits shortly after Lamelo wanted to go to Spire.

[@TheApologeticDog]

Hey Michael Scott, whatchu gonna do, make our dreams come true!

[@tjanderson5892]

Brandon Phillips and anyone who had legit D1 interest that chose to play for this circus league instead was completely insane. Should’ve opted to not get paid and hope to get recruited still. Or withhold pay until a few yrs to not screw em outta eligibility. Guys who flamed out or couldn’t go D1 then sure. Anyone else was a sucker

[@LurkSenpaiGaming]

pawns will be pawns..

[@StuffedBearSus]

The stealing record line got me hahaha sub added

[@yasgamingyt7708]

The JBA was was supposed to be what OTE is now

[@kevinsmithfan37]

his is one of those things that honesty as a player you had to look at and say once Lavar's kids are out how much is he gonna put into this. if this were me i would have only been looking at this maybe at around year 2 or 3. i think you jump into this you lose college eligibility while means for guys that maybe cant play pro or guy that can only make it overseas it means your giving up a degree. none of the JBA guys were one and done guys. they would have been guys who had to develop. so im not gonna risk all my shit on lavar cause once his kids got all the benefit out of the JBA just wouldnt have trusted him to give a shit and guess what, i would have been right.

[@kimberlygoodens2221]

I feel sorry for the other kids.😢

[@mikehunt368]

i mean….. the lakers and hornets fell for his BIGGEST scam…. that shit was expensive lol

[@docgravenshmit6692]

I'm shocked that this league failed. Shocked I tell you.

[@esmail1901]

Do some more research on BBB and Alan foster.. plenty of more information to do a part 2. Lamelo is also a victim in this. He didn’t get paid and was rumoured to ask his friends for food.

[@guadalupecanedo1540]

Why did he not sued?

[@yungmel412]

I think it worked…everything he did it sparked everything else but quicker….as soon as Lavar wanted to pay High school kids that’s when they decided high school kids can go into the g league and then go to the NBA….I think if he didn’t Start the JBA the G league and NIL deals wouldn’t have pushed like they did.

[@timothyree8653]

but at the same time highschool kids had the options to go overseas and play which would also make the ncaa get desperate for players(which is what lamelo did instead of opting for UCLA). in a way it worked but at the same time lavar literally ripped them off the same as the ncaa did except none of these guys have a viable route to professional contracts when theyre competing with college/g league players for contracts

[@coredaqqer6197]

​@Timothy Ree Sure, they had the option, but not many overseas teams are going to consider a prospect that wasn't brought through their ranks. Another of things can go wrong with a high level prospect going overseas, just a few years ago a move away from college meant you lost all eligibility to compete in the NCAA, meaning if things don't work out you run the risk of being stuck or having to travel a much more difficult path.

[@thetruthandnothingbutthetr6484]

But highschool kids were able to go the NBA before they changed the rules soooooo ….how do Lavar change that

[@thetruthandnothingbutthetr6484]

NIL came from the O’Bannon lawsuit not no damn Lavar Ball

[@Anon-qp3kt]

Bs. Lavar Ball did not do anything but scam people. You Ball lickers are being disingenuous

[@whobitmyname]

Lavar's biggest scam was the one he ran on Lonzo with his home-baked conditioning program.

[@NN-bv9lq]

Even the shoes he released were a scam

[@marclaporte3710]

Both Marquise Brown and Floyd junior ruined their college and professional basketball futures by doing this.

[@onetimeforthebangbang6049]

This man's whole life is a scam

[@vayk47]

any update on what happened to brandon phillips?

[@swishcountyproductions]

His socials say he’s playing professional ball somewhere but there’s no pictures outside of highschool and jba teams

[@skfotedar]

Lousy shoes, lousy league…his kids bailed him out

[@RetroJetro]

The NBA did everything they could to dismantle Lavars moves. They used Lavar for ratings and then blackballed him.

[@Jerry8yomomma]

It was literally just for Melo to get more looks since he couldn’t play high school ball anymore

[@Anon-qp3kt]

Can’t believe people actually fell for the scam. You could see it was to promote the Ball’s from miles away

[@TraJonR3D]

Might as well call him T***p Jr., Jr.

[@johniel]

The JBA was the blueprint for the OTE league 🤷

[@youtubelife9248]

One kid out, one on his way out and another will be out in a few years.

[@oyesitzgrandz]

A true car salesman call this man ugly duckling lmaooo lot full of lemons

[@christianwilson6039]

All I’m saying JBA walked so OTE could Run

[@Thebiggestsweathimself]

Lol the G league killed it..once the g league ignite was even talked about the JBA was done

[@Kay-xf4kl]

I will always say this, that butter teeth Lavar Ball wanted to live his life through his sons and inadvertently ruined their careers

[@iceyizo3]

Bro I forgot all about this

[@nufrogking]

Lmaoo damn i completely forgot about the JBA

[@night6724]

yeah free college is real exploitative. Also look up how the NCAA and college sports work if you think they “profit” from sports

[@swishcountyproductions]

That was lavars quote on the ncaa not mine brotha

[@night6724]

@@swishcountyproductions ah okay. sorry then

[@swishcountyproductions]

No worries man could’ve (maybe shoulda) stated that but I thought it flowed better without that

[@JeremiahEfojie]

Ote is what jba was supposed to become

[@LuckyShowTime]

What happened to it? It was the Gelo and LaMelo showcase. One got drafted. The other bro keeping him on the G League. End of video.

[@jaydee2149]

Jba is the reason for OTE and g league ignite team

[@TheLifeofKam99]

I don’t think those players are victims. If they had high level talent they could have went to the G League or overseas after the JBAs collapse.

[@monahainz5904]

Lavar just needed his sons to skip a year so he made the jba

[@davidc1678]

Jba was here before ote, OTE just did it better because the BBB brand was a meme.

[@tre5769]

Jba is really just Ote if it panned out

[@zosteppa]

The jba walked so ote could run

[@amjj8218]

So they still don’t know if Alan foster actually stole the money?😂

[@swishcountyproductions]

Nah case got dropped

[@KyrieBron]

3:39 Ayo WTF

[@17an28]

I don't know if I'm stupid or not, but I think the jba paved the way for young athletes to get "paid"

[@timhall5382]

What money?

[@2ooClean]

This league is the reason the NCAA started paying players and G League significantly increased their pay

[@sdot5389]

Not even close. Laughable. Look up Ed O’Bannon and educate yourself.

[@2ooClean]

@@sdot5389 literally the year after the JBA, the g league and ncaa changed rules to pay players

[@RomnysGonzalez]

Hell nah. The changes to GLeague was planned for years ahead Lonzo wasn't even a player for UCLA went the conversation started. Players suiting NCAA and the congress finally noticing the issue is what started the NCAA paying them

[@CrazyJoeClark429]

Actually the NBA owners allowed it and gave him no resources. All he has to do was shut up and leave the boys alone. Sure he signed a contract.

[@Sleepyboiwonder]

Lavar wildin

[@korielucious5837]

a lot of players were never paid shit is pretty sad if you ask me

[@letsgoooo9200]

I always thought the Jba was great idea but the execution was horrible

[@swishcountyproductions]

I’d agree , but I’d also say the intentions with the league were pretty less than as well