“Athletes wanna be rappers, rappers want to be athletes…I believe athletes want you to know who they are—not just how they play. Music is an outlet for that,” said Lil Wayne during a 2015 interview with ESPN.
The interview was supposed to focus on Wayne’s album Tha Carter V (which actually dropped in 2018). Still, that quote became a memorable pop culture saying because it succinctly summarized the relationship between hip-hop and sports.
These two worlds merge in more ways than one. Since the 2000s, the NBA has been arguably the sports league most influenced by the genre. From game-day-inspired style to the warm-up songs blasted in the arena, the culture of ball is inextricably intertwined with rap.
For many NBA players, hip-hop music is not only enjoyable, but it’s relatable. In the Black community especially, playing basketball and rapping are two of the most glorified positions to achieve. Those who made it in either profession often have a shared rags-to-riches story.
The spirit and energy of a rapper isn’t much different from a baller. They’ve both overcome adversity, often tied to race and/or poverty, they enjoy flexing their success, and they’re fiercely competitive. However, the rules of the NBA govern its players more strictly than a music exec checks its artists.
As Lil Wayne pointed out, athletes have an identity outside of the sport they play, and rap music is one of the go-to ways NBA players express themselves. This inspired us to do some digging and find the most notable players who wanna be rappers, putting in side quest minutes worthy of a stat sheet.
Allen Iverson’s dripped-down impact
When Allen Iverson was drafted as the Philadelphia 76ers’ number-one pick in 1996, one thing was clear—he had aura. Turning heads for his style as much as his skills on the court, he walked so League Fits and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could run.
“I was the first one to do all that stuff, and I took an ass-whooping for it…Tattoos, cornrows, headbands, hip-hop. I never meant to start any trends. I got my butt kicked, but if that meant that the guys who came after me could be themselves, then it was worth it,” Iverson said in a 2015 interview with Bleacher Report.
His style was undeniably influenced by rap: oversized tees, large chains, durags with fitted caps, and occasionally Reeboks from his “Iverson Line.”
Even when the NBA tried to fight back in 2005 by enforcing a strict business casual dress code, jokingly referred to as the “A.I. Rule,” it was too late. Iverson’s impact had already spread throughout the league, and other players were following his lead when it came to who to listen to and what to wear.
Iverson’s hand in merging the NBA and rap can be seen in the Reebok commercial he did with the rapper Jadakiss. While they both shot hoops, they traded verses about the new Reebok A5s and their position in their respective professions.
Around 2001, Iverson got behind the mic and created his own raps. He was going to release the album Misunderstood under the name Jewelz, but the project ended up being scrapped because the lead single, “40 Barz,” was seen as homophobic and sexist.
“It wasn’t a great relationship when I did that terrible rap album…When I did that bullshit, that’s when I had a problem with [former NBA commissioner] David Stern,” Iverson said in a 2022 interview with Complex.
Despite taking the L in creating his album, Iverson has been a vocal supporter of today’s NBA players expressing their individuality. One of the players that Iverson influenced through his work on and off the court is a GOAT – Kobe Bryant.
K.O.B.E. the rapper
Kobe Bryant needs no introduction. He’s known as one of the greatest to ever do it in basketball, but he also had a short-lived rap career.
He was a part of the 1996 NBA Draft as the 13th overall pick to the Charlotte Hornets before being traded over to the LA Lakers. In 1999, he went on to sign with Sony Entertainment and was set to release his debut album, Visions, in 2000. However, his debut single with Tyra Banks, “K.O.B.E.,” debuted at the 2000 NBA All-Star Weekend to negative reviews.
Despite the failed album attempt, he still scored a feature on Destiny Child’s “Say My Name” remix. He also joined his Lakers teammate Shaquille O’Neal on his 1998 song “3X’s Dope.”
Shaq Got Skillz
Compared to Kobe and Iverson, Shaq’s rap career was critically good. His first single, “I Know I Got (Skillz),” dropped in 1993 as part of his debut album Shaq Diesel. It peaked at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 and scored RIAA platinum status.
Since Shaq Diesel, he released three other albums before releasing his final album, Respect, in 1998. He even experienced the rap beef rite of passage—being subject to a diss track by fellow NBA player Damian Lillard. Other NBA legends, like Dirk Nowitzki, admittedly liked Shaq Diesel’s music.
When veteran NBA players are past their prime, they go play in Europe. Similarly, Shaq Diesel put down his mic and got out his turntables, becoming DJ Diesel for the last ten years.
DAME D.O.L.L.A.
Damian Lillard has played in the NBA since 2012 and has been rapping as DAME D.O.L.L.A. since 2016. He has not shied away from letting his true feelings about other players be known, releasing the 2019 Shaq diss track “Reign Reign Go Away.”
“Platinum ’cause he bought the copies, Should’ve just passed me the torch, I got no remorse, I beat him like Rocky, I fill the tank up with Diesel,” he rapped on the song.
Dame’s albums, like Big D.O.L.L.A., have received solid reviews, and he’s widely recognized as the best NBA rapper. To Dame, receiving flowers in the context of his peers isn’t enough because he wants to be taken seriously as an artist, separate from his ball career. When talking about his 2021 album Different On Levels (The) Lord Allows, Lillard told Revolt that he hopes fans “get from my new project [that] I’m not a basketball player that raps, I’m a rapper.”
4PF Executive Producer James Harden
Getting behind the mic isn’t the only way NBA players are tapped into rap. LA Clippers player James Harden has a well-documented friendship with Lil Baby. They often attend events like Paris Fashion Week together, are seen hanging out in the off-season, and gift each other lavish birthday gifts.
“He’s my guy. He’s a sniper, I’m a sniper,” Lil Baby told TMZ about Harden in 2023. Harden also has a recording studio in his home, which Lil Baby uses. In a 2021 interview with Billboard, Baby teased songs he recorded with Drake and Meek Mill at Harden’s studio.
“Me and Drake got a lot of songs together, right,” Baby said. “It just so happened that one of the songs I recorded was at James [Harden’s] studio. I ain’t delete the songs out the computer so the songs were still [there]. James probably got the team at the house, and they just listening in the studio.”
Given all the recording sessions Harden’s hosted, it’s unsurprising that Harden is named as an executive producer on Lil Baby and Lil Durk’s 2021 joint album, The Voices of the Heroes.
Kawhi Leonard is more than a meme
Hip-hop can bring different personalities out of anybody. The quiet and meme-worthy LA Clippers player Kawhi Leonard has an infamous cameo in Drake’s “Way Too Sexy” 2021 music video. But his influence on rap isn’t limited to video vixen, Leonard executive produced his first rap album in 2021.
Kawhi Leonard Presents: Culture Jam (Vol. 1) has features from Lil Uzi Vert, NBA Youngboy, Rod Wave, Gunna, and Polo G.
“It just merges basketball and music together. It’s always been something on my mind that I wanted to do, so it’s just something that can uplift our community. A portion of each stream is gonna go to the Mamba & Mambacita Foundation,” Leonard said about the album.