While LiAngelo Ball is the only one of the three Ball brothers who hasn’t yet really played in the NBA, he’s still having an impact there. Beyond his basketball playing career (he most recently played in Mexico last February), LiAngelo is making a splash in the music world as GELO with “Tweaker.” He released that single in January, and it’s become prominent throughout the NBA and beyond.
“Tweaker” has posted more than 57 million streams on Spotify alone and found remarkable chart success, including No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100. And it’s led to a lot of further opportunities and recognition for Ball, including a Lil’ Wayne remix, the chance to perform at All-Star Weekend, and the song being added to video game NBA 2K25.
The song has also been adopted by NBA announcers at times, especially when one of LiAngelo’s brothers (Chicago Bulls’ guard Lonzo or Charlotte Hornets’ guard LiAngelo) does something notable. Chicago Sports Network Bulls’ announcers Adam Amin and Stacey King have been particularly big on this. And they did so in remarkable fashion Friday, singing “Tweaker” together after their cameras caught Lonzo dancing after hitting a three:
As Amin notes there, they had previously pulled this out on some broadcasts a while ago, but not recently, saying “We kept it on the low for a while. We didn’t bring it back. We brought back ‘Tweaker’ when we thought it was appropriate, because everyone else ruined it.” And yes, they were very early on this, with King doing this only days after the song first came out on Jan. 3:
@chsn Stacey King bumps ‘Tweaker’ in his car 😭😭😭 #chicagobulls #ballbrothers #tweaker #nba ♬ original sound – Chicago Sports Network Watch on TikTok
And Amin worked in a reference himself on Jan. 8:
But yes, referencing “Tweaker” has become a big thing for others. Hornets’ analyst Dell Curry is one of those, with one example showing him dropping this after LiAngelo Ball set up Miles Bridges for a three last month:
It’s remarkable to see how prominent the one Ball brother who isn’t playing in the NBA (LiAngelo has played in the G-League, and played in the preseason for the Hornets in 2022, but didn’t make it to the regular season) has become thanks to this song. And this probably isn’t going to be the last time it’s heard on a NBA broadcast, or the last time he’ll show up around the league. Harrison Faigen summed that up well around Ball’s All-Star Weekend performance:
Indeed. While this particular Ball In The Family cast member hasn’t managed to find the playing success of his brothers, he’s certainly still getting NBA attention.