LaVar Ball: Jordan couldn't sell $495 shoes 'because he ain't Lonzo'

So long as LaVar Ball is given a media platform, he will continue to say eyebrow-raising things. On Tuesday, the famous basketball dad was told by FOX Sports' Shannon Sharpe that not even Michael Jordan could command a $495 price tag for athletic footwear, the cost of his son Lonzo's ZO2s.

"Because he ain't Lonzo Ball, that's why," Ball replied on Undisputed with Sharpe and Skip Bayless. "Did he have his own brand coming in? It's a new era, called the Ball era."

Watch: Lonzo Ball unveils signature shoe for $495

Outside of special edition collectibles, Jordan brand shoes didn't break the $200 price point until 2003, the final year the legend played in the NBA - and almost a decade removed from his prime. Today, the shoes retail on average between $160-$180 per pair. The senior Ball has been roundly ridiculed for the exorbitant price of his son's debut shoe - sold under his own Big Baller Brand - before he's played a minute in the NBA.

Ball chose to go with his own line after no apparel deal was reached with Nike or Adidas. As a possible parting shot, Nike executive George Raveling referred to LaVar as "the worst thing to happen to basketball in the last hundred years."

The frequent media attention is a key marketing component not only for Lonzo, but brothers and UCLA recruits LiAngelo and LeMelo. While their father's antics may appear to evoke visions of a basketball version of the Kardashians, they have succeeded in similar ways by raising awareness of their name and brand in manners previously thought of as non-traditional.

"That shoe is symbolic already because (Lonzo is) coming in with his own brand," Ball said Tuesday. "Nobody's ever done that."