The Best LaMelo Ball Shoes

If there is one basketball family everyone knows, it is the Ball family. LaMelo Ball, the youngest of three brothers, is a point/shooting guard for the Charlotte Hornets. Ball was the first-round third pick in the 2020 NBA draft and was selected by the team. Further, he grew up playing basketball his whole life and was a top prospect since his Chino Hills days. His family and supporters knew that he would go on to be selected quickly in the draft, as he also has his older brother, Lonzo, in the NBA.

Puma has partnered with the basketball star, allowing Ball to have his signature shoes with the brand. The reported value is worth around $100 million, with no known time stamp. Ball said this about the deal: "I am really excited to be joining the Puma family... I believe the brand is the perfect partner for me because Puma will allow me to just be myself." He added, "I want to be 100-percent authentic whether that's playing basketball or showing off my personal style and that's what I want to do with Puma." With the company allowing LaMelo creative freedom and co-designing the shoes, he made the MB.01 and later on the MB.02. Here is a list of his top five best colorways. 

We have the second version of Ball's Rick & Morty collaboration at No. 5. February 2023 was the release for these shoes. They come at a retail price of $140. These versions of the shoe are called MB.02 Rick & Morty. The colorway of these shoes matches the vibe of the show. On one, we have Morty, with the shoe being pink and safety yellow with pink laces. The other has Rick, purple and Elektro green with purple laces. Each character is placed on the tongue of the shoe. They appear on the soles of the shoes as well. Additionally, we have "M.E.L.O." on the backs of the shoe with his logo.

With No. 4, we have the MB.02 "Slimes." The shoes were released on December 21, 2022, in collaboration with Nickelodeon. They are coming in at a retail price of $140. Inspired by Nickelodeon's slime, the colors of the shoes reference the goo. The bottom half of the shoe has the color green, and the top half features a neon yellow. In addition, the design of his logo and stripes on the side are colored orange, representing Nickelodeon's logo color. 

On the bottom of the shoe, you can find the word slime imprinted. On the toe cap, you can see the use of a slime effect in green. Inside the shoes, you can find a slime pattern again with the Puma logo on one side and the Nickelodeon slime wording on the other. 

With the third spot, we have the first and original design of the Rick & Morty collaboration. Debuting on February 18, 2022, this was LaMelo's first collab shoe. It retails at $135. We have a Nrgy Rose colorway on one shoe with the Rick & Morty portal below the tongue. The shoe's tongue has Ball's logo in Jasmine Green. Of course, the other shoe comes in Jasmine Green with another portal below the tongue and the logo again in Nrgy Rose. On the inside of the tongue, we can see Rick on the green shoe and Morty on the rose shoe.

With the second pair on the list, we have the MB.01 "Queen City" shoe. Releasing on March 18, 2022, the shoe retails for $125. The colorways for these shoes are Purple Glimmer and Blue Atoll. The shoes are purple with hints of blue throughout the tongue and on the words "Not From Here." We also see the "M.E.L.O." in blue on the back of the shoe. Further, we also see "1 of 1" on the tongue tag and the sides of the toes. 

With the No. 1 spot on the list, we have the MB.01 Low "UFO." With a retail price of $120, they were released on June 16, 2022. That makes this the cheapest pair on the list. The official colorway names for these shoes are High Rise and Aqua Green. Most of the shoe is a High Rise color, with the laces included. Additionally, we have aqua green used as a liner for the top of the shoes and as the color of the outsoles. Again we can see the "1 of 1" on the tongue tag and "M.E.LO." on the backs of the shoe. 

Ball has many years to go on his NBA journey, and in the future, we might see more colorations added to his collections. Above all, we also might see more collaborations in the future. Altogether, Ball keeps the shoes pretty simple with the colors and design, but we'll see if that will change.