LaVar Ball was right… for the most part.
The enigmatic father of Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball, predicted that all three of his sons would have success in the NBA.
And while he was correct that both Lonzo and LaMelo have had various different degrees of success in the Association, his middle son LiAngelo, was never able to stick on to an NBA roster.
But he has found success away from the court.
ESPN’s Sham Charania has reported that the middle Ball brother cashed in on his talents with the microphone in his hands, rather than a basketball.
“LiAngelo Ball has signed a deal with Def Jam and Universal Music Group, a representative from his label Born2Ball Music Group says,” Charania posted on X.
“Sources said the deal is worth as much as $13million, with $8million guaranteed, and gives Ball full ownership of music and his own record label.”
A guaranteed $8m for a guy that wanted to stick it out in the NBA but didn’t end up panning out.
Not bad.
LiAngelo now goes by his rap name, G3 GELO, where the debut of his hit song “Tweaker” has found immediate success across the nation.
The song rose all the way to #4 on the US Spotify Chart as of last week, with over 1,400,000 US streams.
It has over two-million streams worldwide, and is #65 on the Global Chart.
It is being played in almost every locker room from the college level to the pros, NFL and NBA alike.
‘Gelo has found his talents away from ‘Zo and ‘Melo.
The eldest Ball brother is a guard for the Chicago Bulls, while the youngest brother is an All-Star for the Charlotte Hornets, leaving ‘Gelo to carve out his own lane elsewhere.
He originally signed training camp deals in 2020 with the Detroit Pistons, then with the Hornets in 2021 and 2022 but never made a regular-season roster.
He played 31 games in NBA G League for the Greensboro Swarm, where he averaged 4.4 points, 1.1 rebounds and 13.1 minutes.
He wasn’t cut out for the hardwood, but ‘Gelo has made himself more than comfortable in the recording studio.
Now he is on the path to stardom, just not in the way that his father originally predicted.
