The NBA, especially its marketing wing, will watch closely what top draft prospect Lonzo Ball does next.
It was one thing when the crazy antics of Lavar Ball, Lonzo's father, were only causing embarrassing moments for his son on social media.
The sins of the father shouldn't be visited on the son, particularly when those sins involved only some ridiculous boasting about the kid being better than two-time MVP Stephen Curry or the father, who was a washout college player, being able to kick the butt of Michael Jordan in a one-on-one game in their primes.
Those are annoyances that you weigh against the talent and potential of Lonzo Ball and then decide the scales overwhelmingly say you still bring this kid into your basketball circle.
Last week, however, Lonzo Ball got a concrete warning about how potentially hurtful the antics of his father could be to his future financial portfolio.
In a stunning move, Nike, Adidas and Under Armour all reportedly said they would not be trying to sign Lonzo Ball to a shoe endorsement deal because none want to deal with the meddling of Lavar. Apparently, Lavar crossed the line when he insisted that the key criteria for signing Lonzo was licensing Lavar's startup apparel company, Big Baller Brand.
It was a big ball demand from the father of a 19-year-old who couldn't lead UCLA to either the Pac-12 tournament or regular-season titles, much less an NCAA championship.
To show the gravity of Lavar Ball's hubris, it is noted that not even LeBron James, the most popular basketball player on the planet, has a co-branded shoe deal.
Lonzo Ball isn't even expected to be the first player selected in the 2017 draft in June.
Nike, Adidas and Under Armour won't sweat the loss of Ball. They'll simply move on to the next talent, one that comes with less baggage.
This time, it's not just Lonzo Ball having to explain that while his dad might seem crazy, he loves him.
Sixers redshirt rookie Ben Simmons, who had more name recognition as the 2016 No.1 overall pick than Ball has, got a five-year, $20 million endorsement deal from Nike. The deal reportedly has incentives that could make it worth $40 million.
Even if Lavar Ball can find a shoe company to work with, he has likely cost his son $10-15 million in endorsement money.
Other companies for other products are watching how this plays out.
In the endorsement field, the likability of the player has as much to do with a successful marketing campaign as his talent. It doesn't do much good to sign Lonzo to an endorsement deal if people are turned off by him because Lavar has made the Ball name toxic. I doubt it would prevent a team from drafting Lonzo, but franchises do like to have star players they can market to their fans to sell tickets and merchandise.
The marketing wing of the NBA plays a large role in determining which players become viewed as popular stars. A player with a bad image had better stand out with enormous talent for the league to get involved in heavily promoting him.
This is no longer high school, where the only consequences for Lavar Ball's making stupid statements were coaches or other parents getting upset.
Lonzo Ball won't be considered as a kid anymore. He has entered a shark-infested pool where missteps could cost someone millions of dollars. He found out last week how expensive it can be to let his father continue to freely run amok.
Lonzo Ball needs to step up and take control of his career by finally telling Lavar to shut up.
There's a reason why they say, "Most stress is caused by three things _ family, money and family with no money."
