DimeMag

When Does Drake’s Kevin Durant-Approved NOCTA ‘Basketball’ Collection Come Out?

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kevin durant for nocta with drake
NOCTA

Drake’s love of basketball is well-documented, from his friendships with NBA stars to his noted gambling habit to his alleged purchase of $100,000 rings to celebrate a championship win in his rec league.

So, it’s only natural that his clothing line with Nike, NOCTA, would eventually get a line of basketball apparel and gear, along with a campaign featuring NBA all-star Kevin Durant. Durant previously appeared in Drake’s “Laugh Now, Cry Later” video featuring Lil Durk, which was shot at Nike’s Oregon headquarters campus. Here’s how you can get your hands on the new collection before it inevitably sells out and ends up on StockX for triple the price.

You can pull up (heh) on Nocta.com to check out the options currently in stock, which include basketball jerseys (of course) and shorts (absolutely), basketballs (naturally), shoes (they are Zoom Flight 95s, fam, just get those instead), base layer tops (why not), shooting sleeves (alright), socks (sure), and a “sideline trench” jacket (oh… kay). There are also tights, briefs, and caps if you want to go all out on the Drake-branded apparel thing, and a $400 Goretex rain jacket, which — where the hell are you planning to play? The usual assortment of sweats, tees, and the like are also on display, including pants with a Swarovski crystal Swoosh logo.

Dog, I swear, if you show up at a run with those on, you better play like Kevin Durant. Guys around my way aren’t having it.

Starting November 8 at 7 am PT / 10 am ET, you can also grab everything (except those crystal pants, I’m warning you, don’t do it) on the SNKRS app.

LL Cool J And The Roots Teamed Up To Create An Anthem For The Inaugural In-Season Tournament

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The NBA is going all-out for the newest addition to its calendar. For years, it’s been reported that Adam Silver wanted the league to adopt some sort of additional competition that took place during the regular season, and earlier this year, the announcement came that the NBA would institute the inaugural In-Season Tournament during the 2023-24 campaign.

We’ve seen some of the ways that the league wants to hype up the event already. There will be dedicated nights of the week over the next month — Tuesdays (minus Election Day) and Fridays — that will serve as tournament nights. There will be special courts and jerseys for those games, and there’s a terrific ad for the whole thing that seems ripped from the Oceans series. Once the four semifinalists are determined, those teams will head to Las Vegas for the semifinals and final.

And on Friday morning, the league unveiled the latest way it’s looking to add a little bit of excitement to the festivities. LL Cool J and The Roots teamed up to combine the song “Mama Said Knock You Out” with the melody of “Here I Come” to create the official anthem for the event.

“I’ve been a fan of the NBA ever since I can remember, and it’s a real honor to have my record serving as the anthem for this monumental moment,” LL Cool J said in a statement. “I’m excited to see the energy of the song translate to the play on the court during the NBA In-Season Tournament.”

The first slate of In-Season Tournament games begins on Friday, Nov. 3.

Flavor Flav Sang The National Anthem At A Bucks Game And His Passionate Performance Drew A Mixed Reaction

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Flavor Flav City of Hope's 2023 Music, Film & Entertainment Industry Spirit of Life Gala
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Flavor Flav is a rap legend thanks to his work in Public Enemy. He’s also a reality TV icon thanks to his multiple shows, including Flavor Of Love. One thing Flav isn’t necessarily known for is his singing abilities, but he put them center stage this weekend to sing the National Anthem at a Milwaukee Bucks game yesterday (October 29).

The NBA team shared a video of the performance on X (formerly Twitter) and it has proven popular, racking up 3.8 million views in the 13 hours since it was uploaded. Not long after he left the court, Flav seemingly anticipated some negative feedback coming his way, as he tweeted, “The anthem was a long time bucket list item,,, that was fun! I can’t live my life worried about what people might say about me. I won’t let that stop me from trying new things and doing things I wanna do. Some people might not like that. But a sure failure is if you stop trying.”

Feedback was mixed: Some took exception to Flav’s vocal performance, while others were happy to see him putting his heart into the performance. One user called on fellow Public Enemy member Chuck D, tweeting, “I bet @MrChuckD is laughing his ass off.” Chuck responded, “Well I’ll put it to you this way .. Flav moved his opinion with The Obamas and VP Harris. I think a bit different on it. My father was a hardcore US Marine. When he passed in 2016 they came out played taps & folded the flag. The context must always be presented upon the action you see. I wrote each of MY songs with deep detailed meaning so you cannot listen to PE with a cavalier EAR and mindset.”

Chuck also recently posted about how Flav has been doing lately, writing, “Some social talk out there on @FlavorFlav about his management. Truth is They cleaned his life up. These past 5 years Period. If thats what it takes to get him away from the bulsht elements so be it. Bulsht street sht that has us RIP at stupid funerals for 50 and unders many times a year now. I don’t GAF if he moves In Taylor Swifts house.. HES 64 many are crumbling younger. He is doing well and best I’ve ever seen him.”

Lil Wayne Name-Drops Devin Booker In ‘Phresha,’ His And 2 Chainz’s First Single From ‘Welcome 2 ColleGrove’

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2 Chainz and Lil Wayne are true to their word. Earlier this week, Wayne shared on his Discord channel that “Presha” would arrive ahead of his and 2 Chainz’s performance on the October 20 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that night. And earlier in October, 2 Chainz reportedly let it slip, “Me and Wayne’s album drops next month. This is a full-circle moment.” (2 Chainz also told The Source that it would “be coming out before the year’s over with.”)

Right on cue, “Presha” is here this morning (October 20), and Welcome 2 ColleGrove will arrive on November 17. The album’s release date was confirmed via press release, which also relayed, “ColleGrove is a portmanteau of Chainz’s hometown, College Park, Georgia, and Wayne’s hometown, Hollygrove, Louisiana.” Their original ColleGrove collaborative album dropped all the way back in March 2016 — peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard 200.

The bar is set high for Welcome 2 ColleGrove from jump in “Presha,” as the single starts with someone yelling, “Yoooo! This sh*t is un-believ-able!” The beat drops — an infectious juxtaposition of high-pitched whistling and thumping bass — and 2 Chainz raps, “Yeah, we cookin’ now / You know this sh*t presha ’cause they lookin’ out / Say, ‘Look out for me,’ but they wasn’t lookin’ out / Got your sh*t together, suki, suki now.”

About halfway through, Lil Wayne hops on the track and delivers his bars in his signature frenetic flow. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Wayne verse without a clever sports reference: “Smokin’ dope, you can smell the boogers / Break your nose like Devin Booker.”

Watch the “Presha” lyric video above.

Welcome 2 ColleGrove is out 11/17 via Def Jam Recordings. Find more information here.

Damian Lillard Rapped ‘Farewell’ To Portland And Roasted The Blazers After His Blockbuster Trade To Milwaukee

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Damian Lillard never needs an excuse to remind everyone of his rap prowess as Dame D.O.L.L.A., but a blockbuster trade from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday afternoon is as good of an excuse as he’ll ever find.

Shortly after ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news of the trade, Lillard addressed it on X (formerly known as Twitter), writing, “The casuals won’t be addressed but the Trail Blazers fans and city of Portland that I love truly will be … and they will be addressed truthfully. Stay tuned. Excited for my next chapter! @Bucks”

Roughly two hours later, Lillard shared “Farewell” to Apple Music and Tidal, with a promise that the freestyle would hit “the rest of the platforms soon.”

The track comes in at just under three minutes and it kept true to Lillard’s promise, reflecting on his path to this point, appreciating everyone who stood by him (“Only my loved ones make me feel free”), and holding those who bailed accountable (“Let some people in, and now these n****s disgust me / I learned that a wolf can sometimes resemble a husky”).

In the final 45 seconds, Lillard raps, “I can never be replaced / They’ll know sooner than later / An arrow pointed at who assumed it was greater / Amazing what I get in return for this labor / I’ll continue leaving trails but [inaudible] beef with the Blazers / To the fans, man, I love you / It’s unconditional / Reasons for me leaving the city’s nothing typical.”

Lillard continues, “So it’s imperative not to believe the narrative / Just know that what I left is better than what I inherited / I leave at peace because I know, in the end, that this is business / Hope you remember all the things you got to sit and witness / In the future, man, I hope we greet with hugs and kisses / But you should know that they the ones who chose another mission.”

Lillard was drafted sixth overall by the Blazers in the 2012 NBA Draft. The Oakland native has been a loyal superstar to Portland despite never sniffing an NBA title. The furthest Lillard’s Blazers made it in the NBA Playoffs was the Western Conference Finals during the 2018-19 season.

In July, reports surfaced that Lillard had requested a trade from Portland and wanted to land with the Miami Heat. Rumors swirled all summer around Lillard’s desire to join the Heat and Portland’s disinterest in accommodating his request, and the Bucks swooped in out of seemingly nowhere to pair Dame with Giannis Antetokounmpo — much to Jimmy Butler’s chagrin.

Drake Gave A Heartfelt Speech Explaining Why LeBron James Is His ‘Brother’ During An LA Concert

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Drake Lebron James 2022 NBA game
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Drake and 21 Savage continued their It’s All A Blur Tour in Los Angeles over the weekend — and keeping with the trend of bringing surprise guests. While Kendall Jenner and SZA have already popped up at past LA dates, the recent celebs had the crowd going wild.

None other than LeBron James and his son Bronny (who is doing “great” after his recent health scare) joined the rappers on stage. On the way through the crowd to get there, Drake also signed a fan’s copy of his poetry book. The Toronto performer was also paying tribute by wearing the Lakers colors.

Then, when Drake was on stage, he gave a heartfelt speech to LeBron. “The gentleman that walked me to stage tonight is my brother,” he said. “In 2009, when nobody believed in anything I had going on, that same guy showed up to a release party for a mixtape that was called So Far Gone.”

“He came all the way to Toronto, Canada to support me, when I was trying to figure out how I can live my dreams,” Drake added.

Drake and LeBron have continued to stay close for a while. Back in 2018, he appeared on an episode of LeBron’s HBO series, The Shop, where he opened up about his son, Adonis, and the two dads bonded over raising their kids.

A few years later in 2020, Drake went with LeBron to watch Bronny play at his high school basketball game. “My young demons doing numbers,” Drake posted when Bronny’s team won, according to HotNewHipHop.

This makes the fact that LeBron brought his son to Drake’s show all the more special.

Check out Drake entering the stage with LeBron and Bronny, and his speech, above.

Common Spilled About How Unimpressed Michael Jordan Was With His Basketball Skills In The NBA All-Star Celebrity Game

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In a new interview with Men’s Health, Common looked back at some stories throughout his life and career. One of which was when Michael Jordan critiqued his basketball skills after watching him play in the 2010 NBA All-Star Celebrity game.

The two had crossed paths before, but reunited several times after that.

“I had met Michael before because I was a ball boy for the Bulls when I was a kid,” Common said. “He doesn’t remember me from those days, but he also had come to one of my shows in Chicago at the House Of Blues. Mike was watching my show, but I didn’t let people know he was there ’cause he was up in the balcony. Until my last song.”

“When I did, everybody just watched him and just forgot I was on stage,” he added.

Sometime later, the two talked about Common’s role in the NBA game.

“I just played in the celebrity game and hit the last free throws to seal the game,” Common said. “In this picture, when I greeted him, he told me to stick to rapping. He grounded me in this picture, for sure.”

“I couldn’t believe that he didn’t recognize that my game was actually a good game,” he joked.

Check out the full interview above.

Allen Iverson Meets ‘White Iverson’ As The NBA Legend Congratulates Post Malone On 1 Billion Spotify Streams For The Song

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On April 10, “White Iverson,” the debut single that was the start of Post Malone’s ascent to global superstardom, reached 1 billion streams on Spotify. Now, Spotify has shared a video marking the occasion, and in it, Allen Iverson, the song’s inspiration, offered a congratulatory message.

The NBA legend and Hall Of Fame member said, “Congrats on 1 billion Spotify streams and your tenth plaque. The whole world loves this song and I’m honored to be a part of it. Keep that same form, Post.”

As Iverson noted, “White Iverson” is Malone’s tenth song to reach a billion Spotify streams. The others are, going from most recent to least, “Goodbyes” Feat. Young Thug, “Rockstar” Feat. 21 Savage, “Psycho” Feat. Ty Dolla Sign, “Better Now,” “Circles,” “Wow,” “Sunflower” with Swae Lee, “I Fall Apart,” and “Congratulations.”

Elsewhere in the video, Malone was asked to explain the song in ten seconds, and he said, “I made the beat and I wrote the song, but I didn’t know how to work Pro Tools, and so I took it over to my buddy’s house. He gave me a crash course on Pro Tools and I couldn’t do it, so he came back in and recorded it, but I guess I originally tried to record it myself.”

Check out the video, which also features Malone playing beer pong with his new plaque, above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Steph Curry Appears To Try His Hand At Rapping On Tobe Nwigwe’s ‘Lil Fish, Big Pond’

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Texas rapper Tobe Nwigwe has a history of tapping some interesting collaborators, from 2 Chainz and Chamillionaire to Bun B and CyHi The Prynce. He’s even worked with NBA player Damian Lillard, who goes by Dame D.O.L.L.A. in his rap alter ego. Today, Tobe added another NBA star to the list — albeit one who is better known for shooting like Dame than rapping like him. Steph Curry, who recently demonstrated some impressive acumen on the golf course, appears to add to his range of skills in the video for Nwigwe’s “Lil Fish, Big Pond.”

Of course, while Curry proves pretty adept at lip-syncing, it’s pretty clear that it’s Tobe doing most of the actual rapping in the video as the two entertainers go fishing in, well, a pond. The Steph reveal is very clever, and for a second, you almost have to wonder what a real Steph Curry rap song would sound like. After all, he wouldn’t be the first NBA player to ponder a second career as a rapper, and many of them — even the part-time dabblers — often are pretty good at it, if not “Hip-Hop Hall Of Fame” good. Still, it’s a cool concept from Tobe, who directs, as usual, and styles the video, which features some impressive digital effects as well.

Watch Tobe Nwigwe’s “Lil Fish, Big Pond” video above.

James Harden Loaded Up On Burgers From Bun B At Rolling Loud While Joel Embiid Got Married

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This past weekend was an eventful one for the stars of the Philadelphia 76ers, as Joel Embiid got married on Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed himself, FaceTiming Meek Mill to rap “Dreams and Nightmares” to him from the ceremony while also dancing up a storm.

While that was happening and a handful of Embiid’s teammates were in attendance for his nuptials, James Harden and PJ Tucker were down in Miami enjoying themselves at Rolling Loud, where a video went viral of Harden grabbing four (4) hamburgers from legendary Houston rapper Bun B.

Listen, who among us has not been enjoying themselves at a concert, maybe had a few beverages, and not wanted to eat four hamburgers. I would do the same thing as Harden if presented with a tray of free burgers, so I am not going to be one to throw stones here.

That said, plenty of folks online began making connections between Harden’s statement (or maybe threat) earlier in the week to make things “uncomfortable” on his Instagram story amid the reports he’d be more than willing to report to camp and be a distraction should the Sixers not meet his trade request by October. Harden knows better than most how to turn up the heat on a team and make clear he doesn’t want to be there, as he put on some pounds in Houston when he wanted to leave the Rockets and made the Nets locker room miserable before being dealt to Philly. Maybe this is part of the program, maybe he’s taking burgers to some friends, or maybe he was just a very hungry fella. Either way, it is a pretty funny video of him just stacking burgers in his arms and disappearing into the night.