Oakland’s Damian Lillard comes out shooting in battle of NBA rappers
Proving once again that the NBA has no offseason, Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (Oakland’s own) and Sacramento Kings center Marvin Bagley III are beefing over who is the best…
Playoff series close-out artist? No.
Between-the-legs handler? No.
Stare-down expert? No.
Rapper? Oh, yeah.
If you’ll recall, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain engaged in similar contretemps back in the day.
Or was it Mark Madsen and Sarunas Marciulionis?
Anyway, Lillard appears to have the more comprehensive body of work. He has a new album as we speak.
Visit https://t.co/M6I8LTedDw to find links out to my new album #CONFIRMED on all of the major streaming sites. #DameDOLLA #FrontPageMusic pic.twitter.com/8GXPBRWCps
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) October 6, 2017
But the 6-11 Bagley, who averaged 14.9 points in his rookie season, went on ESPN’s “First Take” on Thursday to lay his claim.
Host Max Kellerman stirred the pot. “Roy Jones, who is a colleague of mine at HBO boxing, played me a clip of you free-styling in the hallway,” he told Bagley. “And it has been my opinion since that the best MC in the NBA is either you or Damian Lillard. Who is the best MC in the NBA?”
“Me,” Bagley said, unequivocally, “I love music, so I’m going to go with myself.”
Would he ever agree to a rap-off, voice box-to-voice box, with Lillard?
“Yeah,” he said. “For sure. Whatever whatever, man. I make music. It’s my love. So we can see.”
As if to bolster his credibility, Bagley then released a song (or as the kids say, “dropped a track).
— Marvin Bagley III (@MB3FIVE) June 20, 2019
… Lillard for the win:
https://t.co/ZPv9kvIGSZ pic.twitter.com/SmWjwWKTsZ
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) June 21, 2019
This is going to be a long, hot summer.