{"product_id":"we-ballin-marissa-d-mitchell-9781732973008","title":"We Ballin': What I Learned from LaVar Ball about Basketball, Business, and Bravado","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn unauthorized sports biography, We Ballin' What I learned from LaVar Ball about\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBasketball, Business, and Bravado centers on the rise in fame and fortune of LaVar Ball, father of\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe Ball brothers and founder of the Big Baller Brand. It is told from the perspective of Marissa\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMitchell, former prot g  and later biographer and publicist for LaVar Ball.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten from Marissa's viewpoint, the story begins with a twelve-year-old girl aspiring to\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eplay basketball. Her father seeks out a coach to explore his book-smart daughter's athletic prowess.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe ended up finding a loud, boisterous local man named LaVar Ball. Mr. Ball put her through a\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003etough, disciplined training program that honed her body while she often played one-on-one\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebasketball with his small children. During that time, LaVar confided in her his dreams to make his\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethree sons NBA players using a similar training method. Although she decided not to play\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebasketball in college, instead taking the academic route, she and her father kept in contact with\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMr. Ball throughout the years. With her background in English and teaching, she later contacted\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMr. Ball with the offer to write his biography. It was the year the three \"Ball Brothers\" took their\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epublic high school basketball team to the California State Championship.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMr. Ball was very enthusiastic to have Marissa back in the fold of the Ball family. Several\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ein-person interviews ensued, excerpts of which are included in the manuscript. During those\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003einterviews, Marissa was asked to assume more responsibilities for the growing family business\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(Big Baller Brand and Big Baller Media) with the understanding her compensation would be\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eretroactive, with a solid contract at the end of the year 2017. Marissa eagerly accepted the challenge\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand with the biography almost completed and having worked countless hours pro bono (ending\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewith Lonzo Ball being drafted to the Lakers), Marissa was then fired by LaVar Ball's new manager.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs she comes to terms with being fired and dealing with the complicated emotions that\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eresulted from her one-time role model having her dismissed, she began to see LaVar for what he\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003etruly is. She saw firsthand how money, fame, and success can affect people who seem to have your\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eback. In her story, Marissa provides a chronological look at how the business grew and the Ball\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebrothers evolved into pro basketball players. She examines the many controversies LaVar Ball\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efound himself in--from his sons arrest in China to his Twitter war with Donald Trump.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThrough it all, this idealistic young woman learned that people are not always the way they\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eappear on the outside. And more importantly, through challenges and difficult situations, personal\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003egrowth can come along when you least expect it. Interestingly enough, after everything she went\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethrough, Marissa learned a lot about herself and more importantly, she ended up with the exact\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethings she admired in the Ball family: her own family, a growing career, and a renewed sense of\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Marissa D. Mitchell\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1732973008\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781732973008\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Esther Enterprises\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/15\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 244\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.65lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.70d","brand":"Marissa D. Mitchell","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46383946662143,"sku":"9781732973008","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_6afd2bf9-f702-4c0b-9c28-b37b9ba3f16e.jpg?v=1733282170","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/we-ballin-marissa-d-mitchell-9781732973008","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}