Hip-hop and the NBA has a long-standing relationship over the years. From Shaquille O’Neal to Allen Iverson to LeBron James’ teammate at Cavaliers, Iman Shumpert, a few players have tried their hands at hip hop music and rapping.
While Shaq became the only player to go platinum twice and gold once on the billboards, others did not have the fame that Shaq had. And even if they did, someone like Allen Iverson could not go through with his ambitions of being a rapper.
LeBron James’ teammate Iman Shumpert shares his views about Iverson’s music career
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But the NBA heard Allen’s raps and did not think he should go through with them. In fact, they gave him an ultimatum that if he pursues a hip-hop career, he can not be a professional basketball player. He was accused of singing about killing people and violence. But Iman Shumpert on Vlad TV disagreed. He cleared out that it was not like that.
Iman said, “But it’s like what I’m saying. It damn near made it. Because when they present it they try to make him sound stupid. This is what I’m getting at. Motherf****** tried to make it seem like that he was stupid, why would he talk about killing people.” Vlad interrupted and said, “I don’t think he was stupid at all. I think he was making the kind of music that he listened to and the type of people he hung around”.
Shumpert continued, “I’m saying that’s the damn [thing]. They’re saying, he snitched on himself saying that he killed somebody and that’s why the league… I’m just telling you how you just set it up Vlad. I’m going to keep it a bean.” Vlad and Iman indulged in a conversation about why Allen Iverson’s rapping career never took off.
NBA stars who tried their hands at a rapping career
A lot of hoopers have always wanted to try their hands at rapping. Many NBA stars have tried rapping. It has not worked for everyone, but some of the basketball superstars are actually really good musicians.
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Among many stars, some of the NBA players who have the best rapping talent are Damian Lillard, Shaquille O’Neal, Lorenzo Ball, Marvin Bagley, Iman Shumpert, Lonzo Ball, etc.