Lavar Ball is ahead of his time. He's cutting out the middle man with the Big Baller Brand, doing interviews on First Take, CNN and creating headlines on Twitter, Facebook and any other social platform you can think of in 2017. He just announced he's creating a league to compete against the NCAA and other professional basketball leagues not named the NBA. He and his family have their own show on Facebook. He is an obnoxious, loud, proud but lest we not forget--supportive father. A lot of people don't seem to like him. He's the "AAU dad' that we have come to loathe and ignore. Except we can't. No one can ignore Lavar Ball and the Big Baller Brand, even if we tried. Obnoxious sports parents have always been around. Think Tiger Woods' father, Venus and Serena Williams' crazed dad and many more. We typically take what these parents have to say with a grain of a salt and just focus on the success or failure of their offspring. This case, however, is an entirely different animal. Why is that you might ask? It all comes back to social media and brand building. From Youtube videos going viral of his sons dominating high school competition to reality television shows streaming on Facebook, Lavar Ball has been strategic about his family's success, brand and owned all the attention. Most brands, companies and athletes still care what fans and consumers are saying about them and how they are viewed. Lavar and his Big Baller Brand are the exception, as he seems to accept anything said about him or his family, good or bad, and embraces every comment and moment that appear. From my experience working in public relations and knowledge about sports PR and marketing, entities and brands typically announce news or respond to negative publicity with a carefully scripted, methodical message to its stakeholders via press release, magazine feature via tweet, video and other marketing and communication materials. Lavar has thrown everything we've known about bad publicity and flipped its on its head. If anyone is talking about Lavar Ball and his brand, he's happy. The Breakfast Club, Washington Post, ESPN, CNN and a host of other outlets have all taken the time to write about and cover this polarizing figure in sports. These stories and videos generate audiences in the millions and keep click-rates high on websites. Lavar might be rambunctious and annoying to a lot of people, but he's just as strategic as LeBron is with his media strategy. (other than his cryptic Instagram/Twitter activity) Ever notice how Lavar's sons don't say much and let Lavar do the talking? Genius. Ever notice how Lavar encourages feedback from sports pundits and embraces the punches that are thrown at him? Genius. What about him and his sons creating Big Baller Brand while being open to working with the likes of Nike, Adidas etc? Even more genius. Lavar Ball is my 2017 Sportsman of the Year and he hasn't even done much, other than have everyone talking about his brand and whether it will fail, getting his two sons a deal to play in Lithuania, help his other son get drafted to the Los Angeles Lakers and create buzz around his new league slated to begin sometime next year. No one has captured the sports world's attention this year the way Lavar Ball and the Big Baller Brand has, and little do we know, he's just getting started. When thinking about Lavar's rise and success, a popular 50 Cent (another pop culture and business icon) track comes to mind where he says, "Hate it or love the underdog's on top, and I'm gone shine homie until my heart stops." 50, I couldn't have said it better myself.