LaMelo Ball & Puma Will Be Releasing The LaFrancé 1 On May 17th

Charlotte Hornets All-Guard LaMelo Ball along with Puma are gearing up to release their first-ever co-design lifestyle shoe the LaFrancé 1 on May 17th. According to Boardroom’s Nick DePaula, The shoe is named after Ball’s middle name and lifestyle brand and is also the tattoo initials that the NBA tried to cover up last season. 

 

 

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“Per the (collective bargaining agreement), players are prohibited from displaying commercial logos or corporate insignia on their body or in their hair during games,” NBA spokesman Tim Frank said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports. “We try to enforce the rule reasonably, in accordance with its purpose, and taking into account players’ efforts to express themselves in a non-commercial manner. But LaMelo Ball’s neck tattoo is in obvious violation of the rule and, accordingly, he’s required to cover it.”

With the design of the LaFrancé 1’s Puma and LaMelo are clearly looking to market toward skateboards.

“If you know Melo, you know he does everything large,” the Puma Hoops designer Noah Bice said in a statement. “So we had to come up with a silhouette to fit that profile.” It probably goes without saying, but mission accomplished. This thing is huge.

The soon to be fifth year veteran recently spoke with GQ over email and detailed exactly what style of shoe he wanted.

“I wanted to create a lifestyle shoe that represents my style and one-of-one personality,” Ball said. Glossy and chunky, the LaFrance’s debut cherry red “Amour” colorway is one of the most ostentatious makeups we’ve seen in a minute. For Ball, that garish intensity was very much the point. “The LaFrance Amour is something crazy loud to wear off court. The butterfly midsole, inspired by my tattoos, represents good energy.”

Ball is currently recovering from an ankle tendinopathy that caused him to miss most of the 2023-24 season in Charlotte.