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LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball Are Headed to Lithuania

LaMelo Ball, right, signed with a professional club in Lithuania on Monday despite being just 16 years old.Credit...Anthony Wallace/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The Ball brothers were supposed to become a dynasty of sorts at U.C.L.A., with Lonzo, the eldest, giving way to LiAngelo who would give way to LaMelo. But with the two younger brothers signing one-year contracts on Monday to play with Prienai-Birstonas Vytautas of the Lithuanian Basketball League, college basketball careers are no longer on the table for either of them.

The signings, which were confirmed by the family on their shoe and apparel company’s Twitter account, came days after their father, LaVar Ball, announced that LiAngelo and LaMelo had both signed with an agent — Harrison Gaines of Slash Sports Entertainment — in hopes of finding a European team.

The 19-year-old LiAngelo, who recently left U.C.L.A.’s basketball team, and the 16-year-old LaMelo are expected to join Vytautas in January in the latest made-for-social-media drama created by LaVar Ball to try to build attention for his sons and his company, Big Baller Brand. Neither LiAngelo nor LaMelo has played in an official game above the high school level, but they will soon be facing off against seasoned veterans in Europe.

“We are committed to their long-term success and development as professional basketball players,” said Vilius Vaitkevicius, the team’s sports director.

It is not yet known if the brothers will play in the Lithuanian league, or the less competitive Baltic league, in which Vytautas also competes, but considering their age and lack of experience, the Baltic league seems more likely. LiAngelo will be eligible for next year’s N.B.A. draft, though considering his relatively weak reputation as a player entering college, and his flameout at U.C.L.A., he is unlikely to be drafted.

There is also the possibility that the brothers never end up playing for Vytautas, as the financial commitment is minimal and the family is known for its volatility.

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LiAngelo Ball, center, was suspended by U.C.L.A. after he and his teammates, Cody Riley, left, and Jalen Hill, were arrested for shoplifting while in China.Credit...Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

“I don’t care about the money,” LaVar Ball said on Thursday when explaining why his sons had signed with an agent. “I want them to go somewhere where they will play them together on the court at the same time. The priority is for the boys to play on the same team.”

Gaines told Yahoo Sports that he had engaged in talks with a number of clubs, but said it made the most sense to sign with Vytautas.

“It was critical to find a situation in a competitive league that works with both of their short- and long-term goals,” he said.

Last week, LiAngelo was still a freshman at U.C.L.A., where his older brother, Lonzo, had starred before he was drafted with the No. 2 pick this year by the Los Angeles Lakers. But LiAngelo’s arrest on shoplifting charges in China last month resulted in an indefinite suspension from the school’s basketball team, and LaVar Ball then pulled his son out of school, citing frustration over no date having been set for when the suspension would end.

The decision to pull LiAngelo out of U.C.L.A., where he had only appeared in preseason games, was made so quickly that Coach Steve Alford found out about it from the news media. He issued a short statement about LiAngelo’s departure, saying, “We respect the decision he and his family have made, and we wish him all the best in the future.”

LaMelo, the youngest of the trio, is known mostly for a 92-point game he delivered last year at Chino Hills High School in California, where he enrolled early so he could play with both of his older brothers at the same time. He was expected to join U.C.L.A. in the school’s 2019 recruiting class, and as a five-star recruit was expected to have a far larger impact than LiAngelo, a three-star recruit, but he was taken out of high school to be home-schooled for his junior year, and now, thanks to his signing of an agent, he will not be eligible to play in the N.C.A.A.

Big Baller Brand claimed on Twitter that LaMelo would be the youngest player from the United States to ever play professionally overseas.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

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