By Prince Hakeem
Even though tonight belonged to the new bright stars coming into the NBA, the stars of the league won the night. If you haven’t been following, Portland Trailblazer Damian Lillard and Kings Marvin Bagley have been going back and forth in interviews and online. You see, Damian Lillard currently holds the title of being the best NBA player who can actually rap and spit bars. Both Lillard and Bagley took petty to a whole new level tonight, both dropping diss tracks aimed at one another. When Bagley appeared on ESPN’s First Take, Max Kellerman jokingly egged Bagley into challenging into friendly rap beef. Well now things are for real. Bagley first released his record titled ‘No Debate’. While it was decent shot, Lillard definitely won the night with his response track ‘Marvinnnnnn!!!???’.
The league has a long history of its basketball players attempting to showcase both athletic and musical talent. Often times the latter not being done successfully. I mean this synergy between basketball and rap has existed for a long time now. Basketball has long been considered the fifth element of hip-hop. While the running joke and narrative surrounding basketball players needing to stay within their lane is with good merit, in some cases there are some stars that shine through. Take Damian Lillard for example. He’s actually shown to have some capability for flow and lyricism when he freestyled on Sway’s Morning Show.
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