LiAngelo Ball, the middle brother of basketball’s famous Ball family, has taken a surprising turn toward hip-hop glory with his new single “Tweaker.” Performing under the rap name G3, LiAngelo teased the song during a livestream with creator N3on, leaving fans buzzing over its nostalgic early-2000s Big Tymers-meets-Madden intro music energy. 

Social media quickly latched onto the snippet, with users syncing it to clips like classic video game footage and the Druski big white T meme. By the time “Tweaker” officially dropped, it had already built significant momentum. Within 24 hours of release, the track racked up over 800,000+ YouTube views (currently the number one trending song on YouTube Music) and began trending across platforms like TikTok and X (formerly Twitter).

The song’s biggest boost came when it hit the Cleveland Cavaliers’ locker room after a win over the Dallas Mavericks on January 3rd. During a postgame interview, Donovan Mitchell couldn’t help but laugh as “Tweaker” blared in the background and a teammate sang along. “The fact that you already know the words—the song just came out!” Mitchell joked before giving LiAngelo a shoutout. The clip went viral, solidifying the track as a cultural phenomenon, and since “Tweaker” has even found its way into NFL locker rooms via the Detroit Lions.

LiAngelo’s brothers, Lonzo and LaMelo, also played a role in boosting the song. Lonzo hyped the track on social media, tweeting, “Been tryna tell y’all @LiAngeloBall really like that,” while LaMelo shared clips while adding “he got bangers real life 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀i’m cryinnn gang.” Lonzo recently shared a snippet of an unreleased song with a similar sound that he says will be released this Friday. 

Whether “Tweaker” is a one-off or the beginning of a longer hip-hop journey remains to be seen. One thing’s for sure: LiAngelo Ball—at least for the moment—has found his way into the spotlight without having to play NBA ball.