“Basketball Is the Only Reason I Even Own a Gun”: LeBron James’ Former Teammate Unveils Dark Behind the Scenes Reality of NBA

Every kid who picks up a basketball, dreams of making it to the NBA. The fame and money that come with it will undoubtedly cause people to wiggle their tongues. However, the amount of time and effort necessary to unlock the athleticism and skills required for the NBA is tremendous.

Kids who aspire to play in the NBA must spend a lot of time outside, which might be dangerous. Violence is a reoccurring issue, with the likelihood of it increasing when children are exposed to the outdoors rather than school. Most young people, if they are not on the correct path, are introduced to the unpleasant aspects of the outside world.

In a recent interview with VladTV, Iman Shumpert explained how he had to change lyrics in his songs because they seemed too sensitive to many people. When discussing hip-hop and the NBA, Shaquille O’Neal’s name came up.

As the most popular music artist hailing from the NBA, Vlad mentioned how he had clean lyrics. Iman Shumpert said that he never delved into it. He stated that if he released an album on what truly happened and how he got to such a huge platform, we would most likely hear some wild things in his music.

Vlad responded that Shaq didn’t truly live that kind of life. He was just concerned about basketball. Shumpert then went on to say that basketball demands you to go outside, which is where the danger resides.

Iman Shumpert confesses to owning a gun just because of basketball

When Vlad said how Shaq didn’t live that kind of life and his main focus was only basketball, Iman Shumpert had this to say.

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“So you think nothing goes on in that time period? Basketball will raise you boy. I want you to think about something. If you play basketball, you’re outside. If you play basketball, you walk around, if you walk around, you got a bag, if you got a bag, people are fu**ing with you,” Shumpert said.

To this Vlad replied, “Yea but when you’re 7 feet at like 13 years old (Referring to Shaquille O’Neal)….but I’m saying he was always abnormally huge the whole time.” Shumpert went on to say, “And that’s even scarier because that means every day your life you know motherf***** is not gonna fight you, he gonna shoot your big a** okay. I never would have ever thought about having a gun. Basketball is the only reason I even own a gun.”

Everyone talks about how basketball can make you feel euphoric. Nobody, however, discusses the game’s dark side. Shumpert is correct when he says that basketball requires you to go outside, which comes with its own set of risks.

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The only way to eliminate or control gun violence is to teach people the right usage of guns. Shumpert admitted to having a gun because of basketball. He is basically stating that his gun is purely for self-defense, which is the only proper use of a gun.