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Brandon Phillips, who played for the Los Angeles Ballers in LaVar Ball's Junior Basketball Association, said the league didn't fulfill its contract obligations to him.
Per Cycle Media's Thomas Duffy, Phillips said the JBA has only paid him roughly one-third of what he was promised, paid for his own bags to be checked on flights and hasn't had any of his phone calls returned regarding his last two paychecks.
Phillips also tweeted that he "can provide screenshots of players on my team who also got cut backing up my statements."
Duffy noted that Phillips gave up his college eligibility for roughly $1,000 in salary.
Per Andrew Turner of the Los Angeles Times, JBA players are supposed to receive a base salary of $3,000 per month and a 60 percent return on their jersey sales.
"This opportunity came along, and I think it's a really amazing opportunity to get my name out there, get some exposure and to prepare me for overseas or the NBA," Phillips said in July. "It's definitely been a great experience. Traveling and playing basketball, that's always been a dream of mine, and so I'm happy to be living it right now."
The 19-year-old Phillips was cut by the LA Ballers in the middle of the JBA season to make room on the roster for LiAngelo Ball.
The finals of the inaugural Junior Basketball Association season is set—and they'll feature both Ball brothers.
Seattle and Los Angeles each advanced to the Finals on Saturday, setting up a matchup of the two most dominant forces in the LaVar Ball creation.
Favorites every step of the way, LiAngelo and LaMelo's L.A. team had a big scare against an upset-minded New York team. Morissana Camara of New York went to the line with 6.6 seconds remaining and a chance to tie the game but missed one of two, giving LiAngelo a chance to make the score 127-124.
New York missed on its chance to tie the game as time expired, sending Los Angeles to the championship game and narrowly avoiding an embarrassment for LaVar.
LaMelo finished with 55 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists to carry his Ballers. LiAngelo added 26 points but made just six of his 33 shots in a disappointing performance. Gregory Floyd added 18 points, and Keshaun Mack had 14.
Los Angeles won despite shooting just 37.6 percent from the floor.
New York was led by a 32-point showing from Jameer Killing. Nolan Irby had 24 points, while Calvin Brown had 22.
Seattle's victory was much less eventful.
Jamichael Morgan and Brandon Willis each scored 29 points, while Jerrel Springer and Anthony Carmon added 24 apiece to lead Seattle to a 129-106 victory over Houston.
Seattle shot 56.2 percent from the floor, including a 15-of-34 rate from beyond the arc.
Carmon added 13 rebounds in a double-double effort.
The JBA will conclude its inaugural season Sunday at 10:30 p.m. ET.
LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball led the West to a 202-189 wire-to-wire win in the 2018 Junior Basketball Association All-Star Game at Quest Multi-Sport in Chicago on Friday night.
LiAngelo (West) and Deon Lyle (East) were named co-MVPs of the frenetic exhibition.
Lyle, who suits up for Chicago, finished with a game-high 51 points on 17-of-37 shooting, including 10-of-23 from three.
Gelo, meanwhile, dropped 39 points (18-of-34 shooting) to go with 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
LaMelo tied teammate Curtis Hollis and put up a team-high 42 points (18-of-30 shooting, 4-of-13 from three) along with 17 assists, eight turnovers and seven rebounds.
As those numbers suggest, it's no surprise the Ball brothers' Los Angeles squad went a JBA-best 6-2 during the regular season.
The high-scoring duo will now set its sights on postseason play with the quarterfinals scheduled to get underway Tuesday afternoon.
Representing the Houston Ballers, Nick Lovelace showcased his vertical skills to win the inaugural JBA Slam Dunk Contest on Friday.
Lovelace defeated Shawn Lee of the Chicago Ballers in the final, though it was almost by default because Lee missed both of his attempts.
Lee tried a windmill slam from the free-throw line that hit off the side of the rim. He tried a regular windmill dunk but wound up rejecting himself by hitting the ball on the front of the rim. Judges handed him a score of 26 for the effort.
Lovelace teased several different dunks throughout the event, including jumping over three people and grabbing the ball from a teammate in mid-air. His winning dunk was a simple overhand slam with the right hand that earned a score of 29.
Brandon Willis saved his best round at the JBA All-Star Game three-point contest for last when he put up 20 points to defeat LiAngelo Ball in the finals.
The Seattle Ballers star, who is shooting 66 percent from behind the arc this season, started the finals with a perfect opening rack that included the two-point money ball.
Ball had an inconsistent shooting performance, though he started out on fire with 13 points in the first round:
The second round saw Ball's performance dip with just nine points, but that was good enough to secure his spot in the final round.
It wasn't meant to be for Ball on this night, though, because Willis did what he's done since debuting in the JBA. He made an instant impression with 23 points in a 125-98 win over the Houston Ballers on July 21, and Friday was another star-making showcase for him.
The Los Angeles Ballers, led by LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball, rolled to a 170-123 win over the previously unbeaten Atlanta Ballers on Thursday night at Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas.
LaMelo Ball was the game's high scorer and finished with a triple-double (48 points, 24 rebounds and 14 assists). LiAngelo had 48 points and 16 boards.
Despite the team's best efforts late in the game, Los Angeles fell two points short of breaking the JBA single-game scoring record.
With the game a short drive from Dallas, Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott was in attendance for the Ball brothers' offensive explosion, courtesy of Seattle Ballers assistant coach Kristaan Johnson:
As much as Los Angeles' offense will turn heads, its defense was far more impressive on the night. Atlanta entered the game averaging 127.2 points per game, second-best in the JBA. Los Angeles limited Atlanta to 11 points in the first quarter and just 44 points at in the first half.
LaMelo and LiAngelo both had the green light whenever they had the ball in their hands. LaMelo attempted 35 shots, while LiAngelo had 54 shots. They also combined for 42 three-point attempts.
Thursday's game represented an improvement for LaMelo compared to his last game. He was 0-of-4 from beyond the arc in Los Angeles' 171-140 win against the Philadelphia Ballers, whereas he shot 7-of-18 from the perimeter against Atlanta.
While both LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball dominated Thursday's game, the Southern California News Group's Fred Robledo wondered whether they're actually any closer to their ultimate goals:
This is the second game in a row in which LiAngelo stuffed the stat sheet; he had 53 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the victory over Philadelphia.
LiAngelo went unsigned through the NBA Summer League, which denied him one avenue through which to impress coaches in his pursuit of an NBA career. As Robledo argued, the standard of the JBA may not be high enough for him to play himself onto a team in the NBA G League.
Los Angeles is action again Saturday against the Chicago Ballers at Wintrust Arena. Chicago was sitting at 2-3 prior to playing the Dallas Ballers in Thursday's second matchup.
LaVar Ball hasn't given up on his dream of his three sons playing together on the Los Angeles Lakers, but he told TMZ Sports he isn't concerned that LiAngelo Ball is currently playing in the Junior Basketball Association.
"My son wants to get better, he'll do whatever it takes to get better," he said. "The bottom line is, I want all three of my boys to play for the Lakers."
For LiAngelo—who went undrafted and didn't get invited to a NBA Summer League team after returning from a season in Lithuania—the JBA is a chance to work on his game.
"It's not even a yellow brick road. It's a road that he has to take," his father noted. "It's nothing wrong with this. You want to play. All he wants to do his play. And playing with his brothers, just to let you all know, the chemistry is crazy. This beats running hills and just shooting on a machine by yourself."
LiAngelo has a major hill to climb to ever reach the NBA, let alone play with Lonzo on the Lakers. But LaVar remains a believer.
Chicago Ballers head coach Edward Denard shoved, head-butted and cursed at one of his players during a game in LaVar Ball's Junior Basketball Association on Thursday.
As seen in the following video courtesy of Ballislife.com (Warning: Some language NSFW), Denard got physical with forward Montrell Dixson and verbally berated him:
Chicago went on to lose 115-97 to the Seattle Ballers at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California.
After Denard pushed Dixson twice with his fists, Dixson could be heard saying in the huddle, "Hey, that's my bad, I guess."
Denard then yelled, "Get the f--king ball. Stop being a b---h," before knocking his forehead into the side of Dixson's face.
After Dixson said something in response, Denard said: "What you gonna do? What you gonna do, huh? What the f--k you gonna do?"
According to Josh Peter of USA Today, neither Denard nor Dixson has responded to requests for comments on the incident.
Nobody involved with the league has released a statement on the matter either.
Dixson played at Neosho County Community College in Kansas last season, according to the school's official website.
The 26-year-old Denard had stints at Illinois-Chicago, New Orleans and Chicago State as a player from 2010 to 2014, and he also served as an assistant coach at Chicago State.
Ball founded the JBA in an effort to create an alternative to the NCAA for high school and junior college players who want to play professionally.
The league is in the midst of its inaugural season.
LiAngelo Ball made his Junior Basketball Association debut with brother LaMelo Ball and the Los Angeles Ballers on Thursday night, and he made a strong first impression as he led his team to a 171-140 victory over the Philadelphia Ballers.
It should come as no surprise it was the Gelo show in Ontario, California.
He got off to a slow start, missing his first three shot attempts while committing a pair of early turnovers. From there, though, he caught fire.
With Melo and Co. feeding him the ball, Gelo went off for 21 points in the first quarter. Not only that, but he also had three assists, one block and one steal in the opening period.
And while his older brother was lighting up the scoreboard, Melo was showing off his highlight-reel passing abilities:
It wasn't until midway through the second that he got his first points of the night, and he did so in style, as he threw a pass off the backboard to himself and slammed it home.
Gelo took a shot to the face in the opening minute of the second and found himself bloodied, but he didn't let that stop him from getting buckets. He added 10 points in the second to give him a game-high 31 heading into the break.
Meanwhile, Melo (six points, nine rebounds and 11 assists) flirted with a triple-double in the first half.
It didn't take long for him to complete the task after the game's midway point, and from that point on, the Ballers put the finishing touches on their blowout victory.
Gelo finished with 53 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, two steals and one block, while Melo posted 25 points, 19 assists, 17 rebounds and four steals.
Despite filling up the stat sheet, Gelo has plenty of room for improvement. As the score indicates, there was little defense played, which led to plenty of easy layups for the older Ball. When it came time to show off his range, though, he struggled, shooting just 4-of-18 from beyond the arc.
Gelo initially told Nice Kicks that he wouldn't play in the JBA because it would be a "step back." But after he went undrafted and no NBA team gave him a summer-league shot, the L.A. Ballers gave him a chance to show teams what he can do—and he made the most of his first opportunity.
