SLAM #86

Originally published in SLAM 86 The 6th Man: This is crazy: There seems to be a proliferation of interest lately in the connection between hip-hop and basketball. Articles in major newspapers, even books, have been written on the subject in recent months. We’ve received our share of calls on this “phenomenon,” of course—apparently we’re the foremost authority on the subject—and our response has been the same every time. Huh? Why now? Why this sudden fascination with a link that’s existed at least since Kurtis Blow released “Basketball” back in 1984? Oh, it’s about players being rappers themselves? So what about Shaq’s debut, Shaq Diesel, which came out in 1993? Or B-Ball’s Best Kept Secret, which included MC turns from (among others) Jason Kidd, Gary Payton and Dennis Scott. All this attention of late can’t be due to Troy Hudson’s—excuse us, T-Hud’s—record, can it? Or maybe Ron Artest’s? Hip-hop is part of basketball, part of us, part of the culture and the entire urban landscape. W...