Who are the 10 athletes with the best music careers of all time?

LiAngelo Ball finally made it.

No, the middle Ball brother didn’t sign a contract with an NBA team, but he did sign a $13 million deal with Def Jam following the success of his viral song “Tweaker,” which has taken over locker rooms across sports and is slowly climbing up its way on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.

Ball is far from the only athlete to find success in the music industry, but the massive popularity of his song puts him in an interesting place in athlete-turned-musician history.

Here are the top 10 athletes who had successful music careers:

10. Barry Zito

Barry Zito didn’t just throw heat on the mound — his stuff was good in the studio, too.

Zito, a World Series champion with the San Francisco Giants and Cy Young Award winner with the Oakland Athletics, released a six-song country music EP in 2017 titled “No Secrets.” The project didn’t receive any type of critical acclaim, but it did open doors for Zito in the musical world, like co-writing a song for an Eddie Murphy film and getting invited to be on FOX’s “The Masked Singer” as “Rhino.”

Zito’s crowning achievement as a musician, however, might be performing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Athletics’ final home game at the Oakland Coliseum. How can you not be romantic about baseball?

9. Oscar De La Hoya

Oscar De La Hoya: world-famous boxer and … Grammy-nominated singer?

That’s right: in 2000, De La Hoya released a self-titled Latin pop record through EMI International that was nominated for Best Latin Pop Album at the Grammys in 2001. De La Hoya lost to global superstar Shakira, but the album still had massive success, even getting certified platinum by the RIAA in 2006.

Despite the album’s critical acclaim, De La Hoya never released a follow-up. He did, however, make his return to the stage on FOX’s “The Masked Dancer” as “Zebra” and finished in fourth place!

8. Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant mastered nearly everything he attempted in his lifetime. He won five NBA championships and two Finals MVPs in his 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers; he won the Oscar for best animated short film in 2017; and he made his mark in the energy drink business as an investor in Body Armor.

The one thing Bryant fell short of was being a rap star. In 2000, Sony Entertainment planned to release Bryant’s debut album, “Visions,” but it was shelved due to the poor reception of his debut single, “K.O.B.E,” despite him performing it at All-Star Weekend and it featuring supermodel Tyra Banks.

Still, Bryant’s music credits include Destiny’s Child and Brian McKnight. How many other athletes can say that?

7. Deion Sanders

Between Deion Sanders’ success as a player and a coach, it’s easy to forget that he had a moderately successful rap career — but he did.

Sanders released his debut album, “Prime Time,” in 1994 on MC Hammer’s Bust It Records. The album didn’t reach any notable highs on the charts, but the lead singles — “Must Be the Money” and “Prime Time Keeps on Ticking” — gained a cult following and even made it onto “Saturday Night Live” when Sanders hosted the show in 1995, following the San Francisco 49ers’ Super Bowl win.

6. Roy Jones Jr.

If you’re not familiar with Roy Jones Jr., the world champion boxer and rapper, you might be familiar with his rap group, the Body Head Bangerz.

In 2004, three years after the recording of his solo album, “Round One: The Album,” Jones formed a hip-hip group called Body Head Bangerz with Magic, Choppa, Snappa and Bone Crusher. The group released their debut album the same year, which had a few big-name features, including Juvenile and Petey Pablo.

The breakout singles from that project, though, were “I Smoke, I Drank” and “Can’t Be Touched,” the latter of which made its mark on pop culture through athlete hype tapes. “I Smoke, I Drank” peaked at No. 25 on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart.

5. Bernie Williams

In addition to being a four-time World Series champion and a four-time Gold Glove Award winner, New York Yankees legend Bernie Williams is also an accomplished jazz guitarist.

Williams, who attended a performance arts school in Puerto Rico as a teenager called Escuela Libre de Musica, released two jazz albums during his playing career. The second, “Moving Forward,” spent five consecutive weeks at the No. 2 spot on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Album chart and was nominated for Best Instrumental Album at the Latin Grammys in 2009.

Williams got to play for his home fans at Yankee Stadium in 2014, when he performed a classical guitar rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” for Derek Jeter’s final game.

4. LiAngelo Ball

Outside the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef, LiAngelo Ball might be the most talked-about rapper in the world right now — seriously.

The Detroit Lions celebrated their historic finish in the NFC North with Ball’s hit song; the Cleveland Cavaliers have blasted it in their locker room and over the stadium speakers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse; three-fourths of the “Inside the NBA” crew knows the words to the song; and local news broadcasts are sneaking it into their segments.

It’s a phenomenon, with 8.7 million views on YouTube and almost 100K units sold. We’ll see if he can use that momentum to have a successful second single, or if he’ll be one-and-done.

3. Dana Barros

Dana Barros’ rap career was similar to his NBA career: it burned bright, but not for very long.

Barros, an NBA All-Star with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1995 and the league’s Most Improved Player the same year, was the breakout star of “B-Ball’s Best Kept Secret,” a compilation album of songs by NBA players in 1994.

Barros was featured on the track “Check It,” and cemented his legacy as one of the greatest rappers in NBA history.

What started off as a fun social media trend turned into an impressive body of work for Damian Lillard, a.k.a. Dame D.O.L.L.A.

Lillard first established himself as a rapper by participating in “Four Bar Friday” on Instagram, and after gaining some popularity as an artist, he released his first full-length project, “The Letter O,” which peaked at No. 7 on Billboard’s R&B and Hip-Hop Albums charts.

Since then, he’s worked with household names like Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross and Ty Dolla $ign.

1. Shaquille O’Neal

Shaq wasn’t just the most dominant big man ever — he might also be the most dominant athlete-turned-rapper of all time.

Shaq released five studio albums, the first of which, “Shaq Diesel,” reached No. 25 on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum by the RIAA. His follow-up albums didn’t reach the same heights as his debut, but that didn’t scare off any collaborators. His third studio album, “You Can’t Stop the Reign,” featured rap icons The Notorious B.I.G, Jay-Z, Nas and Mobb Deep.

Oh, and did we mention he’s featured on a Michael Jackson record?

Shaq’s rapping days are (mostly) over, but his music career is still going strong as DJ Diesel, an act that has taken him to some of the biggest music festivals in the world, including Coachella.

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