Alan Foster has been in the headlines for reportedly suing NBA star LaMelo Ball and PUMA for a staggering $200 Million. Foster is the co-founder of Big Baller Brand which is owned by LaMelo’s father LaVar Ball. The company was founded by them in 2016 and has seen great heights of success. In the recent alleged lawsuit, Foster claims that he is not being paid fairly and that his trademark has been misused.
Furthermore, the connection between the two families can be traced back to when LaMelo was in school. The Charlotte Hornets star and Foster’s son became friends in 7th grade. As their friendship grew, so did the relationship ties between the families. It eventually led to the birth of the Big Baller Brand.
BREAKING: LaMelo Ball and PUMA are being sued by Big Baller Brand co-founder Alan Foster for $200M in damages.
Foster alleges he came up with the idea for the “MB1” shoe line years ago, which was then used for Melo’s first signature shoe.
(via TMZ) pic.twitter.com/LfBkqWC9g2
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) November 9, 2023
Notably, Foster owns 33% of the Ball Sports Group and has played a key role in its success over the years. He has also helped MB1 Enterprises which is LaMelo Ball‘s branding company. The ‘MB1‘ has also been used as the name for LaMelo’s signature shoes with PUMA. This is the reason behind Foster’s lawsuit against PUMA as he alleges that the NBA star was aware of the trademark and yet moved forward with the creation.
Additionally, Foster has also stated in his lawsuit that PUMA has crafted the logo to be “Intentionally designed to be confusingly similar”. This legal dispute was first reported by TMZ, and there have been no official statements by either of the parties involved regarding the same.
Alan Foster was sued by Lonzo Ball in 2019
The recent lawsuit is not the first or the only one between the Foster and Ball family. Back in 2019, Lonzo Ball sued Alan Foster against fraud charges. It came to the surface that a whopping $2 million was missing from the personal and business finances. The Ball family alleged that Foster had used the money. Whereas, Foster was firm in his statement that LaVar is the one who is responsible.
Furthermore, Foster ended up counter-suing LaVar for $2.5 million misuse from both Big Baller Brand and the Ball Sports Group for his extravagant living. This lawsuit did not come to an end, and Foster sued the company as well as PUMA again.
Additionally, the Big Baller Brand was stopped for 10 months during the case proceedings. It was relaunched in February 2020. LaVa Ball announced this on his X account and said, “Back and better than ever”. Fans now await to see how this new lawsuit against LaMelo Ball and PUMA will unfold.