by Cedric ‘BIG CED’ Thornton
August 8, 2025
‘After I began getting paid for music, it wasn’t some exhausting choice.’
Former G League basketball participant LiAngelo Ball explains why he gave up his hoop desires to pursue a rap profession on a latest podcast episode.
LiAngelo Ball, alongside together with his two brothers, Lonzo and LaMelo, was imagined to take the NBA world by storm. Nonetheless, he ended up chasing a hip-hop dream as a result of he was unable to raise out of the G League, which explains why he stop basketball. But, he dismissed that narrative by stating that he was solely making $3,000 a month when he appeared on the Bag Gasoline podcast with co-hosts Esso World and Hynaken.
Lonzo, who just lately performed for the Chicago Bulls, was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in July, and LaMelo, who performs the purpose guard place for the Charlotte Hornets, was introduced up by their father, LaVar Ball, who boasted that every one three of his sons would make it to the NBA. But, LiAngelo’s profession took a flip when he was signed by the legendary hip-hop label Def Jam after he launched his hit music, Tweaker in 2024.
“Actually, the best way it pays, the way of life, all the things… I used to be within the G League. That’s $3K a month. As a grown man? That ain’t it. I used to be getting mine and throwing it, like, the second you contact that 3K, it’s already gone. It holds no weight.”
He goes on to say that after he began getting paid for his music, that NBA dream died.
“After I began getting paid for music, it wasn’t some exhausting choice. I wasn’t sitting there considering like, ‘Rattling, ought to I maintain hooping?’ Nah. At that time, I used to be like, ‘I gotta dwell now.’”
The basketball player-turned-rapper, named Gelo, entered the 2018 NBA Draft after taking part in his collegiate profession at UCLA. No NBA group drafted him. Ball did have a number of alternatives to make the league. He signed coaching camp offers with the Detroit Pistons (2020) and the Hornets (2021 and 2022) however didn’t make the common season rosters.
Ball performed within the NBA G League for the Greensboro Swarm, averaging 4.4 factors, 1.1 rebounds, and 13.1 minutes in 31 video games from 2021 to 23.
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