Ball Around

Fans React to LiAngelo Ball NBA All-Star Weekend Performance

The former Greensboro Swarm wing is embarking on a hip hop career.

Alex Kirschenbaum

Aug 16, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward LiAngelo Ball (8) dribbles during an NBA Summer League game against the Chicago Bulls at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Aug 16, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward LiAngelo Ball (8) dribbles during an NBA Summer League game against the Chicago Bulls at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Former Greensboro Swarm swingman-turned-Def Jam hip hop superstar LiAngelo Ball took the hardwood as a performer, not a player, for All-Star Weekend's Saturday night festivities at the Chase Center. And the fan reaction was... mixed.

His big brother, recently-extended Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball, introduced the budding rapper, who took the floor in between the Kia Skills Challenge and the 3-Point Contest.

The younger Ball, who played for the Charlotte Hornets' G League affiliate from 2021-23, performed his throwback hit "Tweaker."

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Fans took to X to register their thoughts.

"Spongebob Squarepants" became a popular point of reference for NBA fans on X to convey the apathy of the San Francisco home crowd.

The Chase Center crowd was, indeed, pretty disengaged.

Nine-time All-Star Milwaukee Bucks point guard, who has released multiple hip hop albums under the alias of "Dame DOLLA," has never performed during an All-Star contest. Then again, he's never had a single reach the Billboard Hot 100 (it hit No. 29).

Lillard, an Oakland native, was on hand to take in Ball's performance, as he is looking to win a third consecutive 3-Point Contest. If he achieved that, he would join only Hall of Fame former Boston Celtics small forward Larry Bird and former Chicago Bulls champion reserve shooting guard Craig Hodges as the only players to win three in a row ever.

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Ball's modest, somewhat stilted delivery came under fire from one fan.

Even The Atlantic's Jemele Hill got into the fun, clowning on Ball for a key element of his delivery.

At one point, Ball had to stop rapping altogether, while he waited out a too-hot-for-TV passage in one of his verses.

"The Hangover" and "Community" star Ken Jeong, an avowed sports fan, was invoked in another critical fan gif.

One fan managed to pull off a rare double-clown, criticizing 2023 MVP Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid for never advancing past the second round of the playoffs and Ball for making a (very technical) appearance during All-Star Weekend.

Not all the feedback was negative, however. One fan channeled eight-time All-Defensive Team Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green, who along with teammate Moses Moody fell to Cleveland Cavaliers All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley in the Kia Skills Challenge, to praise the play.

Former ESPN and Fox Sports personality Skip Bayless also approved of the performance — although his post seems to be taking more of a big-picture approach to Ball's career pivot, which is no doubt commendable and impressive.

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For more news and notes, visit Ball Around on SI.

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Alex Kirschenbaum
ALEX KIRSCHENBAUM

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