HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL IN THE AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Are high school basketball players becoming reality stars? If I were to ask you this question, even as early as ten years ago,  the average basketball enthusiast would most likely look me in the eye and say, “Toby, that might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” Yet here we are, in 2020, where high school stars such as Mikey Williams who’s 16 years old, Lamelo Ball who just turned 19, and Bronny James who just finished his freshman year of high school, have a combined 13.9 million followers solely on the Instagram platform. 

How is it that all three of these kids, yes I said kids, have a larger audience than the entire populations of Denmark and Singapore combined? Think about that for a second! There are more people that follow two rising sophomores and a kid who just finished high school than the entire population of two decently sized countries combined.

This stems from one thing. High school basketball is rapidly taking over the basketball world and social media is turning 14 year old basketball players who haven’t even gone through puberty, into the Disney stars of today.

With social media and Television streaming sites taking over our world, and especially the adolescent and teenage populations, Disney Channel and other live television sites are slowly fading into the darkness. In 2014, Disney Channel had nearly 2 million viewers per year, while in 2019, that number dropped to barely over 500,000 (Watson). With that being said, new, young, and entertaining teenagers are becoming the Disney stars of today. Whether it be on tiktok, where Charlie D'amelio, a fifteen year old girl who has completely taken over the spotlight on that app through her trendy Dances, or on Youtube where Marko, an extremely charismatic and overly charming teenager has built himself a large following through his vlogs and shoe customization videos. Their followings are growing so quickly because kids and teenagers prefer to watch people their age rather than adults, and in a time where sites like Disney Channel, Cartoon Network and even Nickelodeon are fading further and further into the foreseeable darkness, social media influencers are taking over those roles as the stars of today. 

Now, the reason I bring this up is that the same thing is occurring within the basketball community. Kids ranging from the age of 13-18 would rather watch their favorite high school basketball players and teams, rather than the NBA. Through a poll that I conducted with over 600 viewers, nearly 76% of kids ranging from 13-18 agreed that they would rather watch the top high school basketball games, than watch the NBA. This not only stems from wanting to watch kids your own age, but the newfound media coverage that high school hoopers are receiving are allowing basketball film companies such as Overtime, Ballislife, and Slam to create full fledged media stars. 

The first example of the power of this media coverage was in 2017 when the outspoken and eccentric Ball Family stepped onto the scene. Whether you watch basketball or not, Lavar Ball and his three kids, Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo, found themselves on every talk show whether based on sports or not. On August 29th, 2017, Ball in the Family, a reality television show documenting the life of this star studded family, was launched. Their show, which could be watched and streamed on Facebook Live, totaled 28.5 million views on their series premiere, yes 28.5 million and averaged 1.14 million views per episode for five seasons! To put this in perspective, 13 Reasons Why, which was one of the most popular and trendy shows of the past decade, only totaled 6.08 million on their debut (“13 Reasons Why”). The Ball Family not only took over the world of basketball during this time, but the show managed to become one of the most popular reality television series. 

After seeing the success of the Ball in the Family series, Overtime, a film company that specialises in providing Basketball highlights, decided to see if they could create something as captivating and entertaining as what the Ball family had. Throughout the past three years, they launched multiple different television series documententing the life of high school basketball players. “Hello Newman's,” one of Overtimes’ first series, had a total of 4.8 million views on their season premier. Julian Newman, the star of this show, doesn’t even have a division one basketball offer. Think about that for a second. How is it that a television series, which is centered around basketball, doesn’t even have someone who is good at basketball as the main character? That’s because prior to this show, Julian Newman was already a full fledged influencer on social media. In an interview with the founder of Overtime, Dan Porter, Julian Newman states that, “the most beloved players aren’t determined by their ranking. “There’s some algorithm between their athleticism, personality, and impact on social media,” he says. “These are kids that are top players, but they’re not the top, top. Their outrageous dunks, or crossovers, or their personality or brand makes them so popular” (Lorenz). 

Shareef O’Neal, the son of the legendary Shaquille O’Neal, wasn’t even one of the top 25 best players in his graduating class, yet he still garnered nearly three million followers on Instagram and in 2018 he nearly sold out one of the biggest high school basketball events being the Hoophall Classic, where his game totaled over 10,000 fans (“Economic Impact”). When asked about his fame and fan base, Shareef stated, "I feel like Disney Channel stars have a lot of younger fans, and it's the same with high school basketball. We got some older fans, but more of the kids looking at the videos are my age or younger” (Lee). 

The popularity surrounding high school basketball is growing rapidly in a time where social media dominates our lives. Pledgesports states that there are over 450 million people that play basketball causally or competitively across the world (Lyons et al.). That’s a huge market for basketball reality television series, and it’s just beginning to be tapped into.

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Annotated Bibliography

 

“13 Reasons Why.” 13 Reasons Why Wiki. Accessed 12 Oct. 2020.

 

This website was used in order to access the “13 Reasons Why” series premier view amount.

 

“Economic Impact of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's Spalding Hoophall Classic 

to Exceed $4 Million.” The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Accessed 12 

Oct. 2020.

This site was helpful because it gave me numbers to show high school basketball attendance from the top high school basketball games.

Lee, Joon. “Instagram Is the New Mixtape for High School Hoops.” ESPN, ESPN 

Internet Ventures, 19 Aug. 2020. Accessed 10 Sept. 2020.

 

This article speaks on social media and its effect on basketball, specifically related to high school athletes. The article begins talking about the son of Lebron James and the amount of hype already surrounding him as a 14 year old. It then begins to talk about how high school athletes are receiving more hype and interest through social media than NBA all-stars. Then it transitions into statements made by coaches, scouts, and players talking about how social media is hurting the game of basketball, and how highlight plays and crazy moments are all these kids are caring about.

 

Lorenz, Taylor. “The Instagram Stars of High-School Basketball.” The Atlantic, 

Atlantic Media Company, 18 May 2018. Accessed 10 Sept. 2020.

 

This source is one that helps compare and contrast high school basketball in 2020 with the past. The article breaks down the shift that's occurring in high school sports due to social media, by interviewing the CEO of Overtime, Dan Porter. Porter states how basketball is going global and is no longer a local thing due to social media and streaming platforms. He then explains how it’s not really the best basketball players that are getting this hype, rather those most entertaining and influential.

 

Lyons, Hugh et al. “Top 10 Most Popular Sports In The World By Participation.” Pledge 

Sports, 24 June 2020. Accessed 10 Sept. 2020. 

 

This website was used in order to find the total number of people that participated in competitive 

or casual basketball games throughout the world.

 

Watson, Amy. “Number of Viewers of the Disney Channel in the U.S. 2019.” Statista, 13 Jan. 

2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2020.

 

This website was needed as it helped me understand the decline in viewership for Disney Channel over the past several years.