After a hot start to the 2024-25 season, things have taken a turn for the worse for the Los Angeles Lakers, as they’ve gone 3-7 in their last 10 games to fall to 13-11, with a tenuous hold on 8th in the West. As of now, it looks like another year where the Lakers will be battling for Play-In position and having to play their way into the playoffs, as has been the case ever since L.A. won the title in 2020.
For a team with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, that’s falling short of expectations and it’s become clear that the Lakers needed to do more than simply make a coaching change to get to that next level. Swapping in JJ Redick for Darvin Ham hasn’t yielded any miracles just yet, which has further shifted the pressure from Laker fans onto the shoulders of GM Rob Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss. You can count Snoop Dogg among the group of fans calling on the Lakers brass to do something, as the rap legend went on ESPN’s First Take on Friday and called out the top two decision-makers for the Lakers, asking “where ya at? Make some moves.”
.@SnoopDogg weighs in on if the Lakers will turn it around.
I think it’s fair to say that Snoop speaks for a good chunk of Laker Nation with this statement, as Lakers fans have been begging the team to make a substantial move for a few years now. The last time they took a big swing they struck out in rather dramatic fashion with the trade for Russell Westbrook, and since then Pelinka and Buss have been unwilling to empty the cupboard on future draft assets in an effort to land another star. With the likes of Zach LaVine, Brandon Ingram, and Jimmy Butler all known to be available as trade season arrives in the NBA, there are certainly options for the Lakers if they want to try and pursue those. How they proceed will tell us a lot about how invested they are in trying to maximize the end of LeBron’s career, and if they don’t show a willingness to make a big move, then we can figure to get another round of Warriors-LeBron rumors.
Of the last 25 years, there are few figures in the world of sports that had a larger impact on their sport and pop culture than Kobe Bryant. As a five-time champion and 2008 MVP with the Lakers, Bryant was, along with Shaq and Allen Iverson early and LeBron James later in his career, the face of the NBA. Being on the Lakers certainly didn’t hurt his cultural impact, as he is an L.A. icon, but his reach goes far beyond Los Angeles.
In the world of hip-hop, Bryant has been heavily referenced in song lyrics for the last two decades plus, eventually becoming the avatar for competing and championships. Here we are looking at 24 (plus a couple bonus tracks) times Bryant’s name came up in rap songs, as his legendary status is cemented by his impact not just on basketball but the culture as a whole. Even after his tragic death in 2020, Bryant’s legacy is still felt and artists continue to point to the Lakers great as one of the great examples of a winner and hooper.
“Overnight Celebrity” — Twista ft. Kanye West (2004)
Kanye: Give you ice like Kobe wife/We sorta like Goldie, right?/The way we mold ’em right
Twista: I could make you a celebrity overnight
The hook to Twista’s smash hit with Kanye features West referencing the massive diamond ring worn by Vanessa Bryant at a press conference after Kobe was charged with sexual assault in Colorado in 2003.
“Swagga Like Us” — T.I. ft. Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and M.I.A (2008)
Tryna get that Kobe number, one over Jordan
This is another Kobe reference from Kanye, this time using Kobe as a stand-in for 24 (and Jordan for 23), which happens frequently, as Bryant became the most iconic No. 24 in sports.
“I Wanna Rock” — Snoop Dogg (2009)
Smokin’ on that Kobe, f**kin’ wit’ that purp
Unsurprisingly, Kobe is frequently referenced in L.A. rap. Here one of Los Angeles’ finest, Snoop Dogg, drops a Kobe reference in this 2009 track, which is far from the last time someone used Kobe and the Lakers as a metaphor for purple (and gold) strands in their weed.
Kobe Bryant” — Lil Wayne (2009)
Lil Wayne took the Kobe love to a whole new level in 2009 when he released a track titled and entirely about the Lakers star, so there’s not one bar to highlight here, but just the entire song.
“Beamer Benz or Bentley” — Lloyd Banks ft. Juelz Santana (2010)
Where my ring and my confetti? I’m Kobe Bryant-ready
By 2010, after winning his fifth title with the Lakers, there was no one more synonymous with winning than Bryant, with Lloyd Banks making that evident from his hit single from that year.
“See Me Now” — Kanye West ft. Beyonce, Big Sean, and Charlie Wilson (2010)
They say G.O.O.D. Music like the new Miami Heat, s**t/Comparin’ them to us, man they gotta add Kobe
After Bryant’s 2010 championship, LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Dwyane Wade to create the Big 3 in Miami. However, as Big Sean boasted on “See Me Now,” comparisons to Kanye’s budding G.O.O.D. Music label and the Heat wasn’t good enough, as they’d need another legend in Bryant to be on their level.
“The City” — The Game ft. Kendrick Lamar (2011)
I’m Kobe on the Lakers floor, except I give you eighty-four
Bryant’s greatest individual performance was scoring 81 points against the Raptors in 2006, and that night gets pretty regularly referenced in hip-hop, with L.A.’s The Game providing one of the more notable ones on “The City.”
“Stay Schemin’” — Rick Ross ft. Drake and French Montana (2012)
Kobe ’bout to lose a hundred fifty Ms/Kobe my n****, I hate it had to be him
Rick Ross has a number of Kobe mentions in his songs (and, really, any NBA star); on 2012’s “Stay Schemin’” guest rapper Drake makes a reference to Bryant’s on-going divorce at the time — which Kobe and Vanessa eventually resolved and stayed together.
“Believe It” — Meek Mill ft. Rick Ross (2012)
Spend Iguodala on my Rolly/Young n**** ball like Kobe
Meek Mill gives us a double NBA reference here, with the Philly native shouting out then-Sixer Andre Iguodala and his 6-year, $80 million deal before noting he’s balling like Kobe.
“Kobe” — Chief Keef (2012)
While Lil Wayne’s 2009 track was very literally about Kobe Bryant, Chief Keef’s “Kobe” is more about the mindset of thinking he’s Kobe in various ways. But, like Wayne’s track, there are too many Kobe lines in it to just pull one out.
“Bugatti” — Ace Hood ft. Rick Ross and Future (2013)
Ballin’ on n***** like Kobe/F**k all you haters, you bore me
Ace Hood’s boastful hit from 2013 wouldn’t be complete without a reference to ballin’ like Kobe.
“Juice” — Chance the Rapper (2013)
I just faced a Veg-er/And you love being Kobe when you make the lay-er/Til you realize everybody in the world f**kin’ hates the Lakers
However, there was certainly some Lakers fatigue felt by fans outside of L.A., which Chance the Rapper makes mention of in this line from 2013’s “Juice”.
This the first time I confess/Me and Top is like a Kobe and Phil/A father figure f**k with him, you get killed/F**k with me and he will kill you himself
Another L.A. connection here, as Kendrick Lamar compares himself and Top Dawg ENT founder Anthony Tiffith to Kobe and Phil.
“Still Think About You” — A Boogie wit da Hoodie (2016)
I shoot up and lean back on some Kobe s**t/They don’t know how to pass on some Kobe s**t
One of the funniest Kobe lyrics comes from A Boogie wit da Hoodie on his 2016 track where he highlights Bryant’s reputation as a premier bucket-getter and not a facilitator.
“Views” — Drake (2016)
Me and Niko used to plot on how to make a change/Now me and Kobe doin’ shots the night before the game
Sometimes a reference is just a status check, as is the case here with Drake boasting about hanging out with Kobe.
“Shake It Fast” — Rae Sremmurd ft. Juicy J (2016)
I get to ballin’ like Kobe in the fourth quarter/So much money on me I can’t even get it sorted
Kobe has long been the go-to for references to being clutch, as is the case here on Swae Lee’s verse from Rae Sremmurd’s 2016 hit.
“THat Part” — ScHoolboy Q ft. Kanye West (2016)
Walkin’, livin’ legend, man, I feel like Kobe/I just dropped sixty, man, I feel like Kobe/Lamar was with me, man, I feel like Kobe
More than a decade from his “Overnight Celebrity” chorus, Kanye West was back at it with the Kobe references, this time shouting out Kobe as a living legend as well as his iconic final game performance when he scored 60 against the Jazz.
“Stargazing” — Travis Scott (2018)
I’m way too gold for this beef, feel like I’m Kobe, yeah
Surprisingly one of the few references we could find that played off Kobe Bryant and Kobe beef, but Travis Scott made it happen in his 2018 track.
“Shotta FLow” — NLE Choppa (2019)
Feelin’ like I’m Kobe, can’t nan’ n**** hold me/If he wanna run up on me, shoot him like Ginobili
Another double NBA reference, this time from NLE Choppa, who is not the only one to pair Kobe and Ginobili — a match made in rap lyric heaven for the ability to rhyme together.
“Commercial” — Lil Baby ft. Lil Uzi Vert
I turned eight million right until I’m a quarterback/Spent a million like I’m tryna bring Kobe back
“Commercial” came out just a few weeks after Kobe’s death, and clearly Lil Uzi Vert’s verse was recorded at some point in that window as he became one of the first in hip-hop to mourn the loss of the legend on a track.
“Bean (Kobe)” — Lil Uzi Vert ft. Chief Keef (2020)
You know I’m ballin’, usual like Kobe
Not long after his verse on “Commercial”, Lil Uzi Vert again referenced Kobe, this time on a track with his name in the title. However, unlike Lil Wayne or Chief Keef’s songs, this one does not feature constant references to the Lakers legend, just at the start of the opening verse.
“Woodlawn” — Aminé (2020)
Look, RIP Kobe/N****, RIP Kobe/You was like a dad to a n****, so I’m sad, my n****/Had to get you tatted on me
After his death, there were tons of tributes to Bryant from all over the basketball, music, and entertainment worlds, showing how far-reaching his impact was, and on his 2020 song “Woodlawn”, Aminé pays heartfelt homage to his idol.
“Rich Flex” — Drake and 21 Savage (2022)
Ayy, I’m livin’ every twenty-four like Kobe did/Shoutout to the 6, R.I.P. to 8
Drake often plays with numbers in his lyrics, and here he pays tribute to Bryant with both his numbers, 24 and 8.
“2024” — Playboi Carti (2023)
Ooh, two fours in the Sprite, got me feelin’ like Kobe, R.I.P., uh
One of the most recent Kobe references, Playboi Carti showed once again how Bryant remains synonymous with the number 24.
BONUS TRACKS
“K.O.B.E.” — Kobe Bryant ft. Tyra Banks (2000)
This has all-but been scrubbed from the internet, but back in 2000 Kobe Bryant made a brief foray into the rap game with a debut single alongside Tyra Banks (???). It did not go over particularly well and Bryant made the wise choice to focus his efforts on the court — but he was better on the mic than he gets credit for.
“Freestyle” — Shaq (2008)
The most legendary NBA beef of the 2000s was that of Shaq and Kobe, with the peak coming when Shaq hopped on the mic for a freestyle at a club and infamously asked Kobe “tell me how my ass tastes.”
With the Boston Celtics raising banner 18 in the TD Garden on Tuesday night as they host the Knicks, the 82-game marathon that is the NBA regular season will officially get underway. That means a return to the floor from the best men’s basketball players on earth, and their presence on the hardwood always brings out stars from the world of entertainment, music, and other sports to watch them do what they do best. There are some teams like the Lakers and Knicks that have dozens of celebrities seated courtside on most game nights, while smaller markets tend to have fewer stars with their feet on the floor, but there’s a star out there that represents for each of the 30 teams in the league.
Here we wanted to take a look at the biggest celebrity fan of every team, with a few ground rules in place. For one, we tried our best not to include a celebrity that’s part of the current ownership group. We also aren’t including former players as celebrities — for instance, Shaq does not count — and aren’t going with active athletes who have just adopted a team in the city they currently play for. Finally, for the teams with a lot of celebrity fans, we lean on the frequency you see them at games and how long they’ve been a regular at the arena break ties.
Atlanta Hawks: 2 Chainz
There are a ton hip-hop artists that you could argue in this spot, but the tiebreaker in this space goes to the celebrity you will most often see courtside repping their team. In Atlanta, that means Mr. Tity Two Necklace, who has been a staple courtside with his kids at State Farm Arena for years. He is involved as an owner with the G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks, but not with the big club, so he earns this spot.
Boston Celtics: Ben Affleck
Take your pick of Affleck, Matt Damon, or Mark Wahlberg. The tiebreaker here is tough because none of them are in Boston at games all that often, but Affleck is almost always courtside for a Lakers-Celtics game in L.A. so we’ll give him the nod here. Also his deep affection for Kendrick Perkins is something that only a true, diehard Celtics fan could have.
Brooklyn Nets: Jay-Z
Jay-Z is no longer the owner of the Nets so he qualifies here, and while he’s not a nightly presence at Barclays Center, he still pops up and is, without question, the most famous person associated with the franchise. I will say, the funniest answer I found in my research was that if you do a Getty Images search for “celebrities attend Brooklyn Nets” you will get pictures of Ben Simmons seated on the Nets bench in street clothes listed as a celebrity.
Charlotte Hornets: J Cole
I don’t think there’s any real competition here, but the North Carolina native proudly reps his Hornets. The best part of being a Hornets fan is not the joy they give you on the basketball court, but the joy wearing a retro Hornets Starter jacket provides and J Cole takes advantage of that.
Chicago Bulls: Barack Obama
The more common courtside fan is, well, Common, but he just cannot touch the level of fame of the former President of the United States. Obama loves his hoops and specifically his Bulls, and I’d love to get his honest thoughts on Jerry Reinsdorf one day.
Cleveland Cavaliers: Drew Carey
With respect to Machine Gun Kelly, it’s gotta be Drew Carey. I don’t think any famous person has ever ridden harder for the city of Cleveland than Drew, and the Price is Right host loves him some Cavs basketball.
Dallas Mavericks: Patrick Mahomes
It helps him that Kansas City doesn’t have an NBA team so he can stay true to his Mavs roots, but Mahomes is one of a few active athletes who has stayed a true diehard of a team from outside the city he plays in and regularly pops up at games. He’s a pretty frequent courtside patron of Mavs games, taking advantage of the fact that the NFL season ends right when the NBA’s stretch run gets going. He’s not the first quarterback to be a regular presence at Mavs games. Remember when Tony Romo suited up for the Mavs one time and got a full intro with the team and everything? That was wild, and now that Mark Cuban’s not running the show, I doubt Mahomes will ever get that kind of opportunity.
Denver Nuggets: Peyton Manning
Denver doesn’t have a ton of celebs, but the former Broncos QB has adopted Denver as his home and pops up courtside to watch Nikola Jokic and company fairly regularly.
Detroit Pistons: Eminem
Like Atlanta, there are a handful of Detroit artists that you’ll find at Pistons games, but while Eminem isn’t a frequent patron of Little Caesars Arena, he is by far the most famous of the celebs that support the Pistons.
Golden State Warriors: Guy Fieri and E-40
I’m making it a tie between Guy and 40 because this feels like a #TwoAmericas situation. At this point I think on the whole Fieri is more famous, but E-40 is an absolute legend and a constant presence at Warriors games so we’ll pick them both.
Houston Rockets: Travis Scott
Travis Scott rides with his hometown team and has been a regular at the Toyota Center even through some lean post-James Harden years. That’s not always the case with celebrity fans, but Cactus Jack is not a fair weather supporter.
Indiana Pacers: David Letterman
It’s either Letterman or Jesse Eisenberg in this spot, and I feel like the former Late Night host is more popular and loves to represent for Indianapolis. Also, he also once asked Kevin Durant why people call him KD in a press conference while he was on the Nets, which has little to do with the Pacers but I would feel remiss if I didn’t mention it here.
Los Angeles Clippers: Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal is in the Basketball Hall of Fame now for his Clippers fandom, which makes it pretty easy to choose him for this spot, but honestly that is an honor that should be bestowed upon anyone that had Clippers season tickets in the 90s and early 2000s.
Los Angeles Lakers: Jack Nicholson
There are few places on earth where you can find more famous people in one room than at a Lakers game on any given night. And yet, out of all of celebrities you’ll find courtside at a Lakers game, the only answer here is Jack, who also joined Crystal and Spike Lee going into the Hall of Fame this year as superfans.
Memphis Grizzlies: GloRilla
Justin Timberlake isn’t eligible given he’s part of the ownership group, and there are a lot of Memphis artists that could stake claim to this spot. For this season, we’ll go with the biggest rising star from the Memphis rap scene, GloRilla, provided her allegiance hasn’t flipped to Damian Lillard’s Bucks.
Miami Heat: DJ Khaled
The Heat have a number of famous folks roll through their games, but no one is a more regular fixture courtside at the Kaseya Center than DJ Khaled (and sometimes his shoe pillow).
Milwaukee Bucks: Sheryl Crow
There are not a lot of options for Milwaukee — which, hey, if you’re a celebrity looking to become the most famous fan of a team, that’s a pretty good bandwagon to jump on — but we’ll go with Sheryl Crow who was a regular during the Bucks title run in 2021. Gucci Mane was also on the bandwagon for the Bucks then, which was perhaps just something he did to spite Drake.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Jimmy Jam
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer might not be a household name to a younger generation, but the legendary songwriter and former collaborator with Prince and Morris Day has been a regular at Bucks game since the franchise arrived in Minneapolis.
New Orleans Pelicans: Anthony Mackie
There are some New Orleans artists like Juvenile and Curren$y that certainly could stake a claim here, but Anthony Mackie has a bit of a broader audience by way of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The New Orleans native has been riding with the Pelicans for years, and the new lead of the Captain America franchise rocks very heavy with New Orleans sports.
New York Knicks: Spike Lee
Spike is the best known celebrity fan in the NBA, period, and there is no other answer in New York. Even with some other very famous diehards (shouts to Ben Stiller, who only tweets about charity work, his movies, and the Knicks), it’s Spike by a mile. No one else becomes a central figure, for better or worse, more often than Spike when courtside.
Orlando Magic: Tiger Woods
Tiger doesn’t frequent the Kia Center much anymore, but he used to be a staple at Orlando games and he is, without question, the most famous person to ever regularly support the Magic. Maybe with their resurgence behind Paolo Banchero, the Big Cat will return courtside more often.
Philadelphia 76ers: Kevin Hart
The Sixers are sneakily a really tough choice. We go with Hart because no one is more vocal (shocker) about their Sixers fandom than the comedian, but he’s got stiff competition from Meek Mill and M. Night Shyamalan, the latter of whom goes to more Sixers games than just about anyone. Also, because he is a minority owner of the team (and also rarely at games), Will Smith is not eligible here.
Phoenix Suns: Alice Cooper
We’ll give Cooper the nod over Phil Mickelson and David Spade here. He doesn’t go to games quite as much anymore, but the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is a long-time Suns fan and has performed at some Suns games in the past.
Portland Trail Blazers: Ty Burrell
The options here are Ty Burrell (most famously Phil from Modern Family), Danger Ehren from Jackass, or comedian Ian Karmel. I think Modern Family has the largest reach, so we’ll go with Burrell, but shouts to Danger Ehren, who was putting up Wilt numbers in Jackass Forever.
The Spurs still get use out of a GIF from years ago of Selena Gomez proudly showing off her Spurs jersey courtside, so even though she hasn’t been to a game in awhile (that there’s photos of on Getty, at least), she still is the biggest celebrity to rep the Spurs.
Toronto Raptors: Drake
There’s not really any competition in Toronto, where it’s very clearly Drake. He is constantly seated courtside, hops on the broadcast just to chop it up with the announce team sometimes, serves as a team ambassador, and pretty regularly collaborates with the Raptors for merch with his OVO line.
Utah Jazz: Gabrielle Union?
I gotta be honest, it’s very hard to find a celebrity Jazz fan that is not part of the ownership group in some way, so I’m going to finally cheat here and say Gabrielle Union-Wade who was at Jazz Summer League games (!) with her husband, Dwyane Wade who has a minority stake in the team.
Washington Wizards: Wolf Blitzer
Wale also has a claim here, but Wolf Blitzer is always at Wizards games and for some reason it makes me very happy that Wolf is just a diehard Wizards fan.
Bronny James met with the media for the first time as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. James and fellow 2024 NBA Draft selection Dalton Knecht spoke about their jump to the league, and while James unsurprisingly got plenty of questions about one Laker teammate in particular, both players got the chance to dive into why they are wearing their respective jersey numbers.
James will wear the No. 9 in Los Angeles, and explained how he did it as a way to honor Juice WRLD, the rapper who passed away back in 2019.
“Juice has been a big part of me keeping calm in some situations I’ve been through.”
“Juice has just been a big part of me keeping calm in some situations that I’ve been through,” James explained. “So yeah, just paying homage to him, especially cause he passed, it’s a really important thing for me.”
For Knecht, things were a little more simple, as he decided to take advantage of the fact that his college number is worn by Anthony Davis by going with a pun based on his last name.
“I knew eventually, like, I probably would have to run into the number 4,” Knecht said. “But, 3’s been my number my whole life, and then, yeah, 3, AD got it, so why not do Knecht 4? Why not?”
Bronny James met with the media for the first time as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. James and fellow 2024 NBA Draft selection Dalton Knecht spoke about their jump to the league, and while James unsurprisingly got plenty of questions about one Laker teammate in particular, both players got the chance to dive into why they are wearing their respective jersey numbers.
James will wear the No. 9 in Los Angeles, and explained how he did it as a way to honor Juice WRLD, the rapper who passed away back in 2019.
“Juice has been a big part of me keeping calm in some situations I’ve been through.”
“Juice has just been a big part of me keeping calm in some situations that I’ve been through,” James explained. “So yeah, just paying homage to him, especially cause he passed, it’s a really important thing for me.”
For Knecht, things were a little more simple, as he decided to take advantage of the fact that his college number is worn by Anthony Davis by going with a pun based on his last name.
“I knew eventually, like, I probably would have to run into the number 4,” Knecht said. “But, 3’s been my number my whole life, and then, yeah, 3, AD got it, so why not do Knecht 4? Why not?”
Shaq is one of the all-time greatest athletes turned rappers, as the big man’s 1993 debut album, Shaq Diesel, went platinum. Shaq released four albums in total, and worked with some of the biggest producers and artists in hip-hop in the 90s.
However, there was one collaboration from a song he recorded with a West Coast legend while in Los Angeles with the Lakers that never saw the light of day. On a recent episode of The Big Podcast, Shaq had Ice Cube join him and they discussed a project Cube was executive producing for him while he was with the Lakers. Cube set it up for Shaq to get in the booth with Dr. Dre, and Shaq and Dre cooked up a song called “That’s Gangsta,” which Shaq thought “was nice.” Cube saw things a bit differently, and made the executive decision for Shaq to not let it ever see the light of day.
“Cube was executive producing one of my records,” Shaq said. “And he put me in the studio with Dr. Dre. I did a song called ‘That’s Gangsta’. Cube heard it and was like, ‘Nope. We’re not releasing this.’ … He was like, ‘Shaq, you’re a f*cking Laker, bro. I don’t want you talking about nothing gangsta. We not doing none of that sh*t.’ And it never came out.”
While Adam Lefkoe seemed to think it was because the song wasn’t good, Cube noted it had nothing to do with that. He was trying to protect Shaq’s image, noting the then-Lakers star didn’t need to present himself as being “gangsta” in L.A., as he had mass appeal already and didn’t need to try to put on that image.
“It was good. Shaq is a dope MC, but I just felt the record was off-brand for him,” Cube said. “Because, to me, he’s more than just gangsta. He’s loved by millions, loved by kids. He already established that. And why go backwards when you’re already forward?”
Shaq would go on to note he thanked Cube for making that decision for him, and it shows how much respect Ice Cube had for Shaq that he would think about Shaq’s overall career as a basketball player (and one of the NBA’s most marketable guys, ever) while executive producing an album. Players don’t always have someone willing to think of the bigger picture and tell them no, and in this case, Shaq had that in the form of a music legend in Cube.
The Los Angeles Lakers needed overtime on Thursday night, but by the time the dust settled, the team picked up a 134-131 win over the Washington Wizards at Crypto.com Arena. Like most Lakers home games, there were celebrities in attendance, with one of them taking to Twitter after the game to voice his frustrations about how he was treated.
Lil Wayne tweeted that he “got treated like sh*t at the Laker game just now,” although as he tells it, he isn’t surprised this happened. In his eyes, some remarks about Anthony Davis from earlier in the 2023-24 season are likely behind all of this.
Wow! Got treated like shit at the Laker game just now but I figured they’d do me that sooner or later either bc of what i said abt AD or simply bc they don’t fwm which I been got that vibe from em as well so all good I get it. Fuck em. It isn’t what it isn’t. I’m used to it.
For context, back in November, Lil Wayne appeared on the FS1 show Undisputed and expressed his belief that Los Angeles couldn’t win a championship with Davis on the team. As he explained, this is “because he’s AD … he shows us them spurts every other other night — it used to be every night, then every other.”
.@LilTunechi tells the Lakers to trade Anthony Davis
At the time of these comments, the Lakers were 3-5 on the year and Davis had just missed his first game of the season, a 34-point road loss to the Houston Rockets. The good news for L.A. is that Davis has mixed durability with production as well as ever this year, as he’s played in 57 of a potential 61 games while averaging 25.1 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.4 blocks, and 1.1 steals in 35.8 minutes per game.
LeBron James continues to make NBA history. The Los Angeles Lakers forward became the first player in league history to reach 10,000 points, rebounds and assists.
King James reached the milestone with an assist in the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Suns in Phoenix.
“My last year will be played with my son. Wherever Bronny is at, that’s where I’ll be. I would do whatever it takes to play with my son for one year. It’s not about the money at that point.”
The 37-year-old sits at over 36-thousand points on his storied career and sits behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone on the NBA’s all-time regular season scoring list.
Share your thoughts on LeBron James making history as the first player to reach the milestone of 10k points, rebounds and assists.
Celebrity dating rumors are in no way a new thing, but in recent years, with the advent of social media, they’ve managed to get a little out of control. Case in point: Lots of people are way too invested in the love lives of rappers like Saweetie, whom they’ve connected to an extensive list of potential beaus based on Instagram posts and trending Twitter pics since she announced her split with Quavo on Twitter in March of this year.
One of those potential suitors was Compton rapper Roddy Ricch, with whom Saweetie was photographed recently at a Lakers game. The two rappers were sitting in neighboring courtside seats, and in the usual fashion, the rumor mill quickly connected the two as fans speculated that Roddy and Saweetie were getting close. Saweetie herself shot down the speculation almost as quickly as it sprung up, joking on Twitter, “So avoid sitting next to men in public places otherwise the world assumes y’all are dating … got it.”
Today, it was Roddy’s turn to make a similar joke as he appeared on LA’s Big Boy’s Neighborhood radio show to promote his new album Live Life Fast. “For all the females out there: stop sitting by me next to the game,” he cracked. “I was sitting down first.”
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that either rapper’s response was able to put much of a dent in the public’s hunger for celebrity gossip; Saweetie was recently connected with Atlanta rapper Lil Baby, prompting him to reply that he’s single and Quavo to suggest a swap.
Watch Roddy’s full radio interview above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
As Vince Staples once said (to the tune of 135,00 retweets and 258,000 likes), “The national anthem don’t even slap.”
Twitter
Over the years, various efforts to rectify this state of affairs have met with mixed results — Marvin Gaye’s rendition at the 1983 NBA All-Star game came close, Fergie’s effort at the 2018 All-Star, not so much — but the fact remains that the “Star-Spangled Banner” is kind of a dud, extolling virtues that the nation still hasn’t come within waving distance of since its writing.
That hasn’t stopped folks from trying, though; the latest was Atlanta R&B singer Jacquees, whose insistence that he’s the “king of R&B” over the past few years (he even named his 2019 album King Of R&B) has already made him subject to pushback and ridicule. Ahead of the recent NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, Jacquees opted for a laid-back rendition marked by his signature melisma and vibrato — i.e., “vocal runs” and that warbling quality singers’ voices sometimes have.
A tweet capturing the video of him singing the national anthem has gone viral on Twitter as folks debate his performance choices comparing it to the aforementioned Fergie debacle as well as Carl Lewis’ 1993 miss at another NBA game. Basically, the consensus is that Jacquees did way too much, but somehow also still not nearly enough to save that dreadful song from its built-in limitations. Jacquees himself was less than amused at the response, posting an apparent response of his own:
Seriously, would it kill anyone for us to update the national anthem? Like five major musical genres have been invented since America’s inception, and literally, any of them would save countless future generations from suffering this sort of embarrassment. Check out the responses to Jacquees’ performance below.
Yess the people realizing Jacquees can not fucking sing. Great day for music
pic.twitter.com/GYbacumtEM
(@fairyprncesa) 
(@SillyJilly131) 
(@themasternelson) 
(@IamJMcGill) 
(@key_chaotic)