Who Is LiAngelo Ball? An Explainer Of The Athlete Behind Viral Track “Tweaker”
LiAngelo Ball did something that no other person has been able to successfully do—time travel.
Ball first briefly teased his early 2000’s-esque track, “Tweaker,” in December 2024 during a livestream with known internet troll N3ON. The song garnered a bit of buzz around the holiday season, with fans clamoring for the Y2K vibes. After a month of fans replaying the clip, they were finally treated to the full song to kick off 2025—and the song was immediately a viral success.
“Tweaker” became the first real Hip-Hop success story of the new year, with the track landing atop YouTube Music’s No. 1 trending song chart, and as of Wed. (Jan. 7), the track has amassed 4.9 million views on the platform. Ball’s song even found success on Spotify, where it raked in 1.32 million plays on its first day on the app, becoming the world’s 12th most streamed rap song.
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Since then, the track has been seemingly inescapable, with the song being synchronized to Inside the NBA and played around the NBA with teams like the Chicago Bulls and the Charlotte Hornets blasting it before and after games.
The song has also received love from the NFL, with the Detroit Lions blasting the track in the locker room after winning the NFC North and securing the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the 2024 season playoffs. And, with the song’s shameless early Y2K Southern rap influence, it shouldn’t be a shocker that the likes of Boosie and Moneybagg Yo have reached out to try and get a feature on the track.
But who is LiAngelo Ball? The viral track has catapulted Ball into the spotlight, with more fans looking for information about the new sensation. Learn about LiAngelo Ball below.
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A Family Affair
Image Credit: Blanchard/Getty Images for Crosswalk Productions LiAngelo Ball is the son of LaVar Ball and Tina Ball, both of whom were athletes in their day. LaVar played college basketball for Washington State and Cal State Los Angeles, the school that Tina also played for. LaVar also played football in the now-defunct World League of American Football for the London Monarchs as a tight end. LiAngelo is just one of the couple’s three sons. Their other sons, LaMelo and Lonzo Ball, are athletes as well, and currently play for the Charlotte Hornets and the Chicago Bulls, respectively.
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A Career Of His Own
Image Credit: Tilton/Getty Images LiAngelo began playing basketball for Chino Hills High School in California alongside his brothers Melo and Lonzo. Together, the brothers won a state championship with the school, resulting in national media attention. He then landed a spot on UCLA’s basketball team as a 3-Star recruit in 2016. However, after getting arrested in China for shoplifting a pair of sunglasses during a UCLA international game against Georgia Tech, Ball was suspended from all team activities.
Before the end of 2017 he announced that he would be withdrawing from the Cali-based university. That same month, LiAngelo and his father, LaVar, stated that Gelo would be declaring and preparing for the 2018 NBA Draft. Preparation led Gelo overseas, where he played for Prienai in the Lithuanian Basketball League.
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Ball would go undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft, but would eventually find himself on the Greensboro Swarm, the Hornet’s G League team, after short stints with the Detroit Pistons practice team and the Oklahoma City Blue—OKC’s G League squad. This journey would eventually result in Gelo signing with the Hornets on two different occasions in 2021 and 2022.
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Big Baller Brand
Image Credit: Tilton/Getty Images Much like his two brothers, Gelo was also integral to the launch of their father’s sportswear endeavor, Big Baller Brand. Big Baller Brand launched in 2016 with LaVar setting out to create a luxury basketball shoe for the modern athlete. The line created signature sneakers for each of the three brothers. BBB has been plagued with issues since its inception, though, as the brand has been hit with lawsuits, severed business relationships, and even received an “F” from the Better Business Bureau.
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Reality TV Ties
Image Credit: FaceBook Screenshot Angelo’s family had their own reality TV show, Ball in the Family, which debuted on Facebook Watch in August 2017. The series followed the family as they navigated their personal and professional lives as a unit. According to Facebook, the series went on for 6 seasons, ending in December 2020.
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A couple of years later, Ball met the future mother of his children, Nikki Mudarris. While the 34-year-old is an entrepreneur and real estate agent, Mudarris is best known for her appearance on Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood.
During a 2023 interview with Sheen Magazine, Nikki said she met her beau during a random encounter at Runyon Canyon in Hollywood. Mudarris and Gelo welcomed a baby boy, LaVelo Anthony Ball. In June 2024, Mudarris announced that she and Gelo were expecting their second child together.
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