What we know about the Lithuanian team that just signed LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball
LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball have signed professional basketball contracts with the Lithuanian club Prienu Vytautas, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The news comes after LiAngelo Ball opted not to return to UCLA as a student or an athlete, where he was suspended indefinitely after being charged with shoplifting while overseas in China.
Those charges were eventually dropped, so LaVar Ball believed that LiAngelo’s extended suspension wasn’t fair. LaMelo Ball’s college eligibility was already in question after his Big Baller Brand signature shoe was released earlier this year, but him and his brothers officially burned those bridges when they hired an agent last week.
So Prienu Vytautas, huh? The Lithuanian club founded in 1994 is hardly a household name, but most European teams aren’t. They currently play in the Lithuanian Basketball League.
I’m sure you have questions, and so did we. Here’s what we know.
What do we know about Prienu Vytautas?
BC Vytautas is a team based in Prienai, a town in southern Lithuania, about 30 minutes south of Kaunas, Lithuania’s second-largest city. They play in stadiums that look like this.
The Ball’s to Lithuania is a disaster waiting to happen (I played there for a year and hated it). This is a picture of the teams gym that the Ball brothers would play at. Not exactly BIG BALLER material #BBB pic.twitter.com/STkQ57YRS5
— Ben Brust (@BenBrust) December 11, 2017
The program may not be as desperate as initial reports made it out to be, however.
From ESPN: "The team has no GM and doesn't practice regularly due to the poor financial situation."
— Simonas Baranauskas (@LithuaniaBasket) December 11, 2017
That is not correct. Might not always run the hard-nosed two-a-day usual for European hoops but 'doesn't practice regularly' & 'due to poor financial situation' is tall tales.
The team reportedly never operated with a lot of money, even when it has been more successful.
Does Prienu Vytautas regularly employ Americans?
No, the only American employed by the club spent only a month with them.
Prienu Vytautas has only had one American player on their roster in the past decade, Brad Tinsley, who departed after a month of action, according to my research. The Balls would likely be faced with a major culture shock in Prienai, a small village of around 10,000 people.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) December 11, 2017
Doesn’t really make sense at all. Same coach there is the one who told me during training camp (through translator) he wouldn’t play me much my rookie year at Rytas because he didn’t speak English.
— Billy Baron (@Billy_Baron) December 11, 2017
Is their coach really like LaVar Ball?
Prienu Vytautas is coached by 50-year-old Virginijus Seskus, who is reportedly a hard-nosed, high-energy yeller from the sidelines who reminds some pundits of LaVar Ball himself.
Virginijus Seskus, coach of Prienu Vytautas, who is considering signing LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball, has been described to me as "the LaVar Ball of Lithuania". Very high energy guy apparently. Loves to get technical fouls. They'll get along great, despite him speaking no english.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) December 11, 2017
Under Seskus, it is not expected that the Balls will receive major playing time, at least at the top league level.
Will the Balls play at all?
LiAngelo Ball is 19 years old, not considered an NBA prospect, and would have come off the bench for a Division-I school in UCLA this season. LaMelo Ball has more potential, but he’s still only 16 years old. The Lithuanian league might not be the most talented one, but it is still made up of significantly older professionals. In that setting, it would be expected that the Ball brothers would struggle.
It sounds like the Balls might play in the Baltic League (BBL) for Prienu Vytautas, which is essentially a minor league for the team.
The Ball brothers are not expected to see major playing time for Prienu Vytautas in the Lithuanian (LKL) league, but could be afforded an opportunity to develop in the Baltic (BBL) League, where the stakes are much lower. The club must decide whether to pull the trigger first. https://t.co/XIihTVnZMD
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) December 11, 2017
Players in the BBL also don’t make much money. Players at that level max out at $500 per month, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, and might even play for free. (At the professional level, Prienu Vytautas players are likely making several thousand Euros per month during the season.)
Do we want a reality show made from the Balls’ time overseas?
Yes.
What’s the best case scenario for the Balls?
This doesn’t seem like a great situation for them. LiAngelo Ball is a non-prospect who should be playing at a mid-major while LaMelo Ball needs more traditional development than sparse minutes against professionals who are 10 years older than him. Maybe the harsher environment will reign him in and force him to develop his playmaking skills.
That said, if the Balls flame out and are headed back to the states in just a few months, don’t say we didn’t warn you.