The Los Angeles Ballers were a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The team competed in the

Junior Basketball Association The Junior Basketball Association (JBA) was an American basketball league that intended to be an alternative to the NCAA by allowing high school and junior college players to immediately play professionally. The league was first announced in Dec ...

(JBA), a league created for high school and

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

players as an alternative to the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA). They won the championship for the league's only 2018 season.

History

The JBA was first announced on December 20, 2017, when media personality

LaVar Ball LaVar Christopher Ball (born October 23, 1967) is an American businessman. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of the sports apparel company Big Baller Brand and founder of the now defunct Junior Basketball Association (JBA ...

said to ''

Slam Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements * S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe * SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...

'' magazine that he would create a professional league targeted at high school graduates and fully funded by his sports apparel company

Big Baller Brand Big Baller Brand (BBB) is an American company that designs, manufactures, and sells clothing and shoes. Launched in 2016 by Alan Foster and LaVar Ball, it has most notably produced signature shoes for the Ball brothers—basketball players Lon ...

. The league held tryouts in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

in April 2018, attracting about 25 prospects, and having already handpicked a nearly completed roster of 7 members for the Los Angeles Ballers. One significant addition to the Ballers was

Greg Floyd Jr. Gregory Floyd Jr. (born May 10, 1999) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Ballers of the Junior Basketball Association (JBA). He played for three different schools at the high school level, emerging ...

, a four-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

out of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

who had spent a season at

Antelope Valley College Antelope Valley College (AVC) is a public community college in Lancaster, California. It is part of the California Community College system. It is operated by the Antelope Valley Community College District, with a primary service area of cove ...

due to NCAA eligibility issues. In May, the team added

LaMelo Ball LaMelo LaFrance Ball (born August 22, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Hornets with the third overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft. ...

, who did not graduate from high school, the youngest son of the league's founder LaVar and a former five-star recruit with limited professional experience, who the JBA labeled as its "marquee player" for the debut season. Their head coach, Doyle Balthazer, previously played alongside LaVar at

West Los Angeles College West Los Angeles College (West L.A. College or WLAC) is a public community college in Ladera Heights, Los Angeles County, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Los Angeles Community College District. It is ac ...

. On July 9, 2018,

LiAngelo Ball LiAngelo Robert Ball (born November 24, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Greensboro Swarm of the NBA G League. Ball played for Chino Hills High School in California, where he won a state championship and achieved nati ...

announced that he would play for the team, after going undrafted in the

2018 NBA draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including inte ...

. The Ballers won the remainder of their games and claimed the JBA title for the 2018 season. On August 16, 2018, after the JBA season, former Los Angeles player Brandon Phillips alleged that the league only paid him one-third of what was promised. Phillips, who was cut in the middle of the season to make way for LiAngelo Ball, also claimed that he had to pay bag fees on flights during the season and that the JBA had stopped contacting him. However, Phillips later clarified that his grievances weren't aimed towards the league's founder, but rather his business partner and friend Alan Foster.

2018 Roster

References

External links

JBA official website
{{JBA Junior Basketball Association teams Basketball teams in Los Angeles Basketball teams in the United States Basketball teams established in 2018 2018 establishments in California