Black curtains covered vacant top sections at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario. About 1,000 spectators were in the lower blocks of seats. Introduced by the public address announcer as “Mr. LaVar Ball,” the founder of the Junior Basketball Assn. strode to center court in a black suit, white dress shirt and Lakers-purple tie emblazoned with three golden Bs.
“They said nobody’s coming to this,” Ball said. “Everybody here is somebody. Nobody here is nobody.”
By definition, the eight-team professional league offers high school and junior college players an alternative to NCAA basketball. All eight teams are called the Ballers, with teams distinguished by their nominal hometowns.