Hip-Hop's Basketball Team
Basketball and hip-hop culture are damn near brothers cousins... Well, they're just related, very closely. Since the late 1980's hip-hop lore has laced the hardwood through players, teams, the gear that those entities wore and the music going along with them all. Movies like White Men Can't Jump, Above the Rim, Hoop Dreams, He Got Game (and sadly Like Mike) feature hip-hop music and culture centered around hoops. Rappers and ball-players have notable friendships and romantic relationships (RIP Trina and Kenyon Martin). Ballers like Shaq, Allen Iverson and sadly Kobe Bryant ventured into hip-hop, attempting to capitalize on their fame in the opposite arena. But what about rappers who try their hand at basketball? Dear Whoever now examines those (literally) crossover artists, putting together a team of the best rappers ternt ballers, and who would make the cut on hip-hop's basketball team. Who did I miss? Would your squad be able to go up against mine?
Honorable Mentions:
Mike Jones
Slim Thug
Nelly
Lil' Flip
Cam'Ron & Ma$e
We all know Cam and Ma$e from their days rapping together as a part of the Harlem collective 'Children of the Corn'. Little do most people know that Killa Cam and Murda Ma$e didn't meet through rap, but because they were childhood buddies that played basketball together in high school. In this clip, you see Cam putting on a show for a high school championship game, with Ma$e making a cameo. If I had to start a team, Cam would have to be the point guard and main playmaker with the way he gets into the lane and finishes...
The Game and Snoop Dogg
California, and most notably, Los Angeles are a hot bed for rap and basketball talent. Brandon Jennings and Jrue Holiday aren't the only ones making knees buckle, though. Uncle Snoop and his nephew the Game both draw crowds whenever the step onto the hardwood (pause). The Cali duo do some damage against one another in this charity tournament. Snoop wows the crowd with some well placed handles, while the Game takes athleticism into his game, doing some high-flying layups and put backs. Sure, Snoop is older than basketball and Game brings little else to the table, but every squad needs role-players...
Jadakiss
Al-Quaeda Jada is already hoops-famous in my book for his forays into basketball stardom with Allen Iverson in the early 2000s (two of my favorite basketball commercials here and here). But who knew the Yonkers representative could ball like this? And at an actual tournament to boot? Jada makes some quick fans here, balling out of control with Nate Robinson on his team. How does A-HCHAAAAAAHHH!! *Jadakiss voice* sound as a team battle cry?
Joell Ortiz
Joell Ortiz is a heavyweight on the mic. That's no secret. Being a heavyweight on the court doesn't always make for good basketball though. Joell disproves that notion in this video, putting the shakes on a few unlucky cats who thought it would be hilarious to see the Brooklyn MC take on the roundball. Joell shows he knows how to pull off the pick-and-roll seamlessly, driving to the net and LeBron-ing some hooper straight into a chorus of OOOOOOOHHHHHH's. Any man that can control his weight in motion like that can definitely be on Dear Whoever's squad.
Chris Brown
Okay, so Chris Breezy isn't a rapper. He's as likely to get killed in a verse than he is in domestic abuse court (is it too early to make jokes about that?). That doesn't mean that the R&B swooner can't hold his own up against some of And 1's best. And that he does, crossing up one of the streetballers for a nice layup... Only to get the ball stripped when he tries to pull off a next level move. That's okay for Chris, though. He gets the nod on Dear Whoever's team simply for making Bow Wow rethink his then-aspirations to play basketball professionally. The below video is an ironic microcosm of how play can mirror work perfectly. RIP to Bow Wow... and his layup.
Honorable Mentions:
Mike Jones
Slim Thug
Nelly
Lil' Flip
Cam'Ron & Ma$e
We all know Cam and Ma$e from their days rapping together as a part of the Harlem collective 'Children of the Corn'. Little do most people know that Killa Cam and Murda Ma$e didn't meet through rap, but because they were childhood buddies that played basketball together in high school. In this clip, you see Cam putting on a show for a high school championship game, with Ma$e making a cameo. If I had to start a team, Cam would have to be the point guard and main playmaker with the way he gets into the lane and finishes...
The Game and Snoop Dogg
California, and most notably, Los Angeles are a hot bed for rap and basketball talent. Brandon Jennings and Jrue Holiday aren't the only ones making knees buckle, though. Uncle Snoop and his nephew the Game both draw crowds whenever the step onto the hardwood (pause). The Cali duo do some damage against one another in this charity tournament. Snoop wows the crowd with some well placed handles, while the Game takes athleticism into his game, doing some high-flying layups and put backs. Sure, Snoop is older than basketball and Game brings little else to the table, but every squad needs role-players...
Jadakiss
Al-Quaeda Jada is already hoops-famous in my book for his forays into basketball stardom with Allen Iverson in the early 2000s (two of my favorite basketball commercials here and here). But who knew the Yonkers representative could ball like this? And at an actual tournament to boot? Jada makes some quick fans here, balling out of control with Nate Robinson on his team. How does A-HCHAAAAAAHHH!! *Jadakiss voice* sound as a team battle cry?
Joell Ortiz
Joell Ortiz is a heavyweight on the mic. That's no secret. Being a heavyweight on the court doesn't always make for good basketball though. Joell disproves that notion in this video, putting the shakes on a few unlucky cats who thought it would be hilarious to see the Brooklyn MC take on the roundball. Joell shows he knows how to pull off the pick-and-roll seamlessly, driving to the net and LeBron-ing some hooper straight into a chorus of OOOOOOOHHHHHH's. Any man that can control his weight in motion like that can definitely be on Dear Whoever's squad.
Chris Brown
Okay, so Chris Breezy isn't a rapper. He's as likely to get killed in a verse than he is in domestic abuse court (is it too early to make jokes about that?). That doesn't mean that the R&B swooner can't hold his own up against some of And 1's best. And that he does, crossing up one of the streetballers for a nice layup... Only to get the ball stripped when he tries to pull off a next level move. That's okay for Chris, though. He gets the nod on Dear Whoever's team simply for making Bow Wow rethink his then-aspirations to play basketball professionally. The below video is an ironic microcosm of how play can mirror work perfectly. RIP to Bow Wow... and his layup.