LiAngelo Ball States Reason He Quit Basketball

by Cedric ‘BIG CED’ Thornton

August 8, 2025

‘When I started getting paid for music, it wasn’t some hard decision.’

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Former G League basketball player LiAngelo Ball explains why he gave up his hoop dreams to pursue a rap career on a recent podcast episode.

LiAngelo Ball, along with his two brothers, Lonzo and LaMelo, was supposed to take the NBA world by storm. However, he ended up chasing a hip-hop dream because he was unable to elevate out of the G League, which explains why he quit basketball. Yet, he dismissed that narrative by stating that he was only making $3,000 a month when he appeared on the Bag Fuel podcast with co-hosts Esso World and Hynaken.

Lonzo, who recently played for the Chicago Bulls, was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in July, and LaMelo, who plays the point guard position for the Charlotte Hornets, was brought up by their father, LaVar Ball, who boasted that all three of his sons would make it to the NBA. Yet, LiAngelo’s career took a turn when he was signed by the legendary hip-hop label Def Jam after he released his hit song, Tweaker in 2024.

“Really, the way it pays, the way of living, everything… I was in the G League. That’s $3K a month. As a grown man? That ain’t it. I was getting mine and throwing it, like, the second you touch that 3K, it’s already gone. It holds no weight.”

He goes on to say that once he started getting paid for his music, that NBA dream died.

“When I started getting paid for music, it wasn’t some hard decision. I wasn’t sitting there contemplating like, ‘Damn, should I keep hooping?’ Nah. At that point, I was like, ‘I gotta live now.’”