Hours after LiAngelo Ball declared for the NBA on Tuesday, he scored a hard-to-believe 72 points for his Lithuania team, a helpful boost to the profile of a player who’s already a celebrity.

It was hard to believe for a reason.

The middle son of LaVar Ball, playing professionally overseas for Vytautas, put up that auspiciously timed statline in an exhibition game against the Guangdong Southern Tigers youth team. Emphasis on the penultimate word.

The 19-year-old was playing against players who obviously appear younger; SB Nation identified its point guard, Xu Jie, as an 18-year-old. Suddenly, Ball was competing against “youth” he could have suited up against at Chino Hills, a team from a younger division in China.

The friendly was not part of a tournament, but just a one-off against a youth team in which Vytautas pressed full-court throughout, with Ball at the top of the trapping defense. Hence, he would be the recipient of the outlet passes that would start fast breaks — positioned to rack up as many points as possible. And so a few hours after he declared for the NBA, he dropped 72, and watched the favorable stories roll out.

“Terrible game to watch, worthless to play,” was the takeaway from Lithuania journalist Donatas Urbonas.

“When Lonzo was coming out, I told [everyone] we’re not working out for nobody, only Lakers,” LaVar told Urbonas, a fact that worked out for LaVar, with Lonzo Ball, the far better prospect, winding up in Los Angeles. “With Gelo, I’m working out for everybody. Whoever invites him, he’s coming. … Could be a lottery pick, but they won’t let it happen.”

LaVar himself had said previously that LiAngelo may not be NBA material. The three-star recruit out of high school, who was infamously suspended from the UCLA team after stealing sunglasses in China, “could be a model,” LaVar told GQ, acknowledging he is not quite as talented as brothers Lonzo and LaMelo.

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