World's most influential teenage basketball players

In this age of social media, it’s hard to stay off your phone in fear you might miss something entertaining. That’s especially true when some of the top young basketball players in the world also are some of the top social media influencers, with hundreds of thousands — sometimes millions — of followers.

Here are the most influential teenagers in basketball.

Bronny James

Instagram handle: @bronny

Bronny James is a 6-foot-4, 185-pound junior guard out of Sierra Canyon High in the Los Angeles suburbs. James, 16, has more than 5.9 million followers on Instagram. While Bronny is the son of Lebron James, he has become a superstar in his own right. This summer, James signed a NIL deal with multimillion-dollar video game empire FAZE. He also had one of the fastest-growing Instagram accounts in history, reaching over a million followers in just 24 hours.

Mikey Williams

Instagram handle: @mikey

Mikey Williams is a 6-3, 185-pound junior guard who attends Huntersville (N.C.) Norman Christian. At 17, Williams has 3.2 million followers on Instagram. Williams is a five-star recruit in the class of 2023. His viral moments started with his Youtube episodes with “Ball is Life” when he was living in California. Since then, he has become a Youtube and Instagram sensation, with videos showing off his vertical leap generating 700,000 likes. There’s also another post that features him with a tiger cub that was liked more than 815,000 times. He has a long list of college suitors (nearly 30 scholarship offers) and multiple pro options.

Hansel Emmanuel

Instagram handle: @enmanuelhansel

Hansel Emmanuel is a 6-4, 165-pound senior guard out of Kissimmee (Fla.) Life Christian Academy, near Orlando. At 17, Emmanuel has 640,000 Instagram followers. When he was 6, Emmanuel lost his left arm when a wall collapsed on him. But he has not let that stop him from becoming an elite athlete. If you go to his Instagram, you can see windmill dunks, quick in-and-out crossovers and spot-up jump shots. Hansel has inspired millions with his viral videos and most recently was offered by Tennesee State.

Emoni Bates

Instagram handle: @emoni21

Emoni Bates is a 6-9, 200-pound wing player from Ypsilanti Prep in Michigan who recently reclassified to the 2021 class and is considering the NBA G-League, Oregon, Memphis and Michigan State. At 17, Emoni has more than 395,000 Instagram followers. Bates’ viral moment occurred when he made over 70 corner 3-pointers in a row while his trainer rebounded for him. Although Bates does not post a lot, he still gets high engagement; his photos average more than 65,000 likes per post. He’s also quite active with his IG stories.

Chet Holmgren

Instagram handle: @chet_holmgren

Chet Holmgren is a 7-0, 190-pounder from Minneapolis’ Minnehaha Academy. Holmgren, a Gonzaga signee, has more than 322,000 Instagram followers. His viral moment occurred at Stephen Curry’s basketball camp, where he was seen putting a variety of combo moves on Curry, blowing by him and dunking in traffic. Even a recent photo of Holmgren slicing up a tomato generated 45,000 likes.

Amari Bailey

Instagram handle: @amari__bailey

Amari Bailey is a 6-4 guard out of Sierra Canyon High who is heading to UCLA. Bailey has more than 422,000 Instagram followers. Yes, he is teammates with Bronny James, but he also has connected with many celebrities on Instagram, including Drake, G Herbo and Chief Keef; they have attended his games and have millions of followers. A photo of Bailey talking with Bradley Beal earlier this week generated 53.4K likes.