The Ball family created yet another firestorm on Thursday when they unveiled Lonzo Ball's first signature shoe under the family brand, the ZO2, with a price tag of $495. Last week, it was reported that Nike, Under Armour, and Adidas were spurning the younger Ball as a potential athlete endorser because his father, LaVar, rejected a traditional endorsement deal and demanded the family's Big Baller Brand cobrand with one of the athletic-shoe giants. On Friday, LaVar was asked on "The Dan Le Batard Show" why he decided to charge $495 for the shoes.
Draymond Green and the Warriors led wire-to-wire to open up a 2-0 lead. The Golden State Warriors are known for game-changing runs that turn relatively close contests into full-on blowouts. In Thursday night’s Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Utah Jazz, that stretch came in the opening quarter, which gave the underdogs plenty of time to mount a comeback.
Their feet were on the edge of the cliff, and the Nashville Predators were ready to give them a final shove out of the postseason. Instead, the St. Louis Blues had one of their most complete performances of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a 2-1 Game 5 win at home.