Toronto Raptors respond to Wale/Matt Devlin situation

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

Relations have been tough between the NBA and the hip hop community since the festivities surrounding the 2013 NBA All-Star Game. Houston welcomed in many of the biggest names in the game, including Jay-Z, Rick Ross, and Ace Hood. Lil Wayne also was  there and he aired out the Miami Heat.

The focus was on Lil Wayne dissing the NBA when Wale was courtside at a game between the Washington Wizards and the Toronto Raptors. Wale was taunting Rudy Gay, the newest member of the franchise. Meanwhile, the Raptors’ TV announcer, Matt Devlin teased Wale, saying he never heard of him, and said he was no Drake.

Wale eventually confronted Matt Devlin and he also tweeted him. The situation was caught on tape and has gone viral. However, the Toronto Raptors have said to TMZ everything was blown out of proportion. The joke was on Matt Devlin, not Wale, as he does not know much about the hip hop culture.

Read the Toronto Raptors’ official statement below:

Matt was NOT trying to diss the rapper, but his comments were “meant to be making fun of himself for not knowing who Wale is, especially a Grammy-nominated artist with more than 2 million Twitter followers.”

The rep says, “It’s a shtick that Matt and our analyst do consistently to poke fun at the fact neither is pop culture savvy.”

The Raptors say Matt ” feels badly that Wale may have felt he was making fun of him.”

The team adds, “We have reached out to Wale’s management group to see if we can turn this into a positive. We’d like to have him join Matt on the broadcast when we return to Washington at the end of March.”