In late 2020, just before being drafted 3rd overall by the Charlotte Hornets, LaMelo Ball signed with resurgent brand Puma, leaving his family’s Big Baller Brand behind once and for all. At Puma, Ball was one of the featured faces of the Clyde All-Pro, but now has his own signature shoe, the Puma MB. He faithfully wore the MB.01s, MB.02s, and then the MB.03s, but then curiously skipped wearing the MB.04s.

The youngest of the Ball brothers (along with Lonzo and LiAngelo), LaMelo was a junior at Chino Hills High School before being pulled from school by his father and signing with Lithuanian club, Prienu Vytautas. He then found himself in Australia, preparing for the 2020 NBA draft where he ended up being drafted 3rd overall by the Hornets, who traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves in June 2026. There was certainly pressure for Ball to be a part of his family’s Big Baller Brand, but he seemed to resist that pull. And after Big Baller Brand’s dramatic fall from grace, LaMelo was free to sign a lucrative deal of his own with one of the established players in the shoe game.