By nearly all accounts, the Ball family’s experience in Lithuania with BC Vytautas was a failure. After lasting just one year overseas in Europe, LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball were forced to return back to America largely with their tail tucked between their legs after failing to make much of an impression on the team or league.

While the immediate consequences of the decision to go overseas were largely negative, the long-term effects actually produced some positives for the Ball family and, specifically, LaMelo.

During an interview with GQ Australia, Ball talked about the experience of playing professionally in Lithuania.

“I feel it helped me in the long run. I grew up a lot. After doing that I felt I could go anywhere.”

Lithuania served largely as a crash course for Ball in the lifestyle of being a professional basketball player. The family’s Facebook show “Ball in the Family” showed how Ball lived in Lithuania and while it was a mess at the time, it served as a learning experience that he almost certainly relied upon in once joining the National Basketball League (NBL).

Ball talked in the same interview about the decision to join the NBL and why it was an easy one given the previous experience he had in Lithuania. So, while it was a move that did not produce strong dividends in the moment, it was a move that paid at least some dividends in the future.