LiAngelo, LaMelo Ball's Lithuania Contracts Started With Journalist's Twitter Message

LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball’s Lithuania basketball contracts originated from a Twitter message to their agent Harrison Gaines, asking if the two would play with team Prienu Vytautas.

Unbeknownst to his bosses, Erikas Kirvelaitis, 21, who works as a writer for Prienu Vytautas, sent a direct message via Twitter to Gaines about the brothers possibly joining the organization, The New York Times’ Andrew Keh reported Wednesday. About a week later, the two agreed to play in Lithuania.

"At around 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 6, sent an unsolicited question via Twitter to Harrison Gaines, a sports agent in Los Angeles with two semi-famous teenage clients: Would LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball, by any chance, be interested in playing professional basketball in Prienai," Keh wrote.

Kirvelaitis received a message from Gaines shortly after his inquiry, requesting details about the team. LiAngelo, 19 and LaMelo, 16, both signed one-year contracts with Prienu Vytautas Dec. 11.

"I'm someone who believes anything can be done if you try," Kirvelaitis told the New York Times of the deal. "It was like a dream, crazy, a miracle, for our club to even have contact with them."

The 21-year-old, who works for the team’s communications department, heard the players were rejected by a larger Lithuanian ballclub and that’s when he contacted their agent.

"When I first heard the rumors they might sign with another Lithuanian team, I thought we needed to take advantage of this opportunity," Kirvelaitis told Yahoo Sports. "I thought, ‘Why not us? Why couldn’t our team have the Ball brothers on its roster?'"

LaVar Ball, CEO and founder of Big Baller Brand, is the father of the Ball brothers and his eldest son, Lonzo, 20, plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. Prienu Vytautas said it wants to utilize the Ball family's fame for the good of the team.

"LaMelo Ball has more than three million followers on Instagram; Draymond Green from Golden State has 2.7 million," Kirvelaitis told The New York Times as to why he contacted Gaines about the brothers. "They are both young, talented players. But, also, the marketing could be huge."

LaVar Ball announced Dec. 4 that he pulled LiAngelo from UCLA to prepare him for the NBA Draft. The news came four weeks after LiAngelo and two of his teammates were detained on shoplifting charges in November during the team's stay in China. After their release, the school suspended the three players indefinitely as punishment.