All The Biggest Highlights And Craziness From Zion Williamson And LaMelo Ball’s AAU Matchup

It’s extremely rare that an AAU game in late July would be a marquee sporting event nationally, but when LaVar Ball, LaMelo Ball, and Zion Williamson are involved, that’s what happens. The Big Ballers and SC Supreme squared off at the adidas Uprising event in Las Vegas on Wednesday night, and the scene was unreal.

Those on site packed into the small gym hours before the matchup in order to ensure that they would have an opportunity to see Williamson and Ball go head-to-head — or, for just as many, catch a glimpse of LaVar prowling the sidelines. The overflowing crowd even managed to cause the game prior to be delayed as they figured out how to handle the mass of people trying to get in.

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Outside the gym, where hundreds were denied entry, there were reports of minor riots and scuffles because folks weren’t allowed inside to see possibly the biggest AAU game in history.

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There were people crowding the Cashman Center lobby, hoping to simply see the Balls wandering around like they are the Beatles.

Once the game finally got started, the craziness — and surreal nature of it all — didn’t end. Ball and Williamson each put on star-worthy shows, with LaMelo scoring 31 points with nine assists and eight boards and Zion putting up 28 points and eight rebounds with his usual flair, as SC Supreme topped the Big Ballers 104-92 (if you would like to watch the full game on replay, go here).

The crowd got what they wanted out of the night, even if the Ball’s lost. Zion threw down massive dunk attempts, LaMelo launched threes from increasingly far distances including a random half-court attempt, and LaVar did LaVar things on the sidelines. Williamson’s athleticism and dunking ability stole the show, as they almost always do, as he hammered a few earth-shattering dunks down on the Big Ballers.

LaMelo tried to answer with long threes — and some long rebounds of his misses.

LaVar did his thing, strolling onto the court to argue with an official and, at one point late in the game, left for a bathroom break that delayed the final 1:15 of the ball game.

LaVar would eventually return just in time to see Zion’s final act of brutality against his team, by way of a steal and huge breakaway dunk.

While all of that was great, the real highlight of the game was the fact that SC Supreme’s coach spent the entire game — in the midst of all the chaos and noise — holding a sleeping baby who couldn’t have cared less about the spectacle or craziness around him.

That child represented many of us on the East coast waiting for a midnight ET tipoff between two AAU teams, but at least everyone watching on streams or in that packed gym got to see Zion, LaMelo, and LaVar play the hits.

(h/t to Harrison Wind on Twitter for the Twitter highlights)