The Beastie Boys' 10 Coolest Sports Name Drops

A Hall of Fame salute to the most ballin' B-Boys lyrics.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Yesterday the Beastie Boys were elected to the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame. In a statement, the group cited "inspiration from our families, friends and musicians...and too many others to possibly name." Conspicuously absent in the list of thank yous were the sports figures who have served as muses—and whose names completed couplets with hard-to-rhyme words like "prosciutto"—to the Beasties over the years.

In order to correct that wrong (no doubt MCA, Ad-Rock and Mike D will thank us at the induction ceremony), we scoured the B-Boys' catalogue for references to on-field ballers. Here are the Beastie Boys' 10 Coolest Sports Name Drops...

10. John Starks ("Get It Together")

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Lyric: "See I've got heart like John Starks/Hitting mad sparks/Pass me the mic and I'll be rocking the whole park"

Album: Ill Communication (1994)

MC: Mike D

The Beasties dropped their fourth LP, Ill Communication, on May 24, 1994, the same day the New York Knicks opened the Eastern Conference Finals at home against the Indiana Pacers. John Starks was the Knicks' sparkplug shooting guard who'd worked his way through the Continental Basketball Association to become the Knicks' most popular player and an all-star in '94. It was a good couple of weeks for the Beasties and the Knicks: Ill Communication debuted at No. 1, and the 'Bockers won the Eastern Conference Finals (despite the best efforts of Reggie Miller). But Starks shot just 14% in Game 1, a harbinger of his performance in the Finals that year.

9. Anthony Mason ("B-Boys Makin' With the Freak Freak")

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Lyric: "I got my hair cut correct, like Anthony Mason/Then I ride the I.R.T. right up to Penn Station"

Album: Ill Communication (1994)

MC: Mike D

Famed for his flights of follicle fancy, Mason was another Knick from the classic early '90s New York lineup. We'll let you decide just how correct Mike D's '94 cut was.

8. Bill Laimbeer ("Tough Guy")

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Lyric: "Butcher me/On the court/Too many elbows to report/Now you're poking me/In the eye/Well you Bill Laimbeer muthafucka time for you to die"

Album: Ill Communication (1994)

MC: Mike D

The Beasties definitely know their hoops, but an early '90s Knicks fan calling out a Bad Boy Piston for rough play? Hmmm... #potcallingthekettleblack

7. Rod Carew ("Sure Shot")

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Lyric: "I got more action than my man John Woo/And I got mad hits like I was Rod Carew"

Album: Ill Communication

MC: Mike D

Career hit totals, 1994: Rod Carew: 3053 (singles, doubles, triples, and home runs); Beastie Boys: 1 (top 10 Billboard singles)

6. Dick Butkus ("Get On the Mic"/"B-Boy Bouillabaisse")

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Lyric: "You say 'Fuck that,' yo holmes fuck this/I'm the King Ad-Whammy, you're Dick Butkus"

Album: Paul's Boutique (1989)

MC: Ad-Rock

Question Adam: Would you say that to Mr. Butkus' face?

5. Clyde Frazier ("Pass the Mic")

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Lyric: "So what you gonna say that I don't know already?/I'm like Clyde, and I'm rockin' steady"

Album: Check Your Head (1992)

MC: Ad-Rock

Walt "Clyde" Frazier was the originator of one of the most iconic fashion pieces in sports history. Dude dressed nice and he knew it, so he wrote a book about it. No diss to Kevin Durant, but we don't envision Tarantula's backpacks getting shouted out 20 years from now.

4. Sadaharu Oh ("Hey Ladies")

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Lyric: "There's more to me than you'll ever know/And I got more hits than Sadaharu Oh"

Album: Paul's Boutique (1989)

MC: Mike D, Ad-Rock

Oh (pictured above with Hank Aaron) is the greatest player in Japanese baseball history, and the undisputed worldwide home run king, with 868 career dingers for the Yomiuri Giants. Again, the Beasties are slightly exaggerating their own hit-making prowess here, as Oh finished with 2786 career hits, and the B-Boys have just the lone aforementioned top 10 single. There is the Foghat 8-track in the ride, so they do have that going for them.

3. Patrick Ewing ("Flute Loop")

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Lyric: "I'm like Al Goldstein, yeah I'm all about screwing/Lead my team to 60 wins like my man Pat Ewing"

Album: Ill Communication (1994)

MC: Mike D

In 1993, the year before the Beastie Boys dropped Ill Communication, Patrick Ewing did in fact lead New York to 60 wins, only the second time in franchise history the club had done so. Knicks and Bulls fans know how that season ended, though, which is why there aren't any Charles Smith odes in the Beasties' discography ("Live at PJ's" doesn't count—different Charles Smith).

2. Phil Rizzuto ("What Comes Around")

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Lyric: "Bum cheese on rye with ham and prosciutto/Got more louie than Philip Rizzuto"

Album: Paul's Boutique (1989)

MC: MCA, Mike D, Ad-Rock

Phil Rizzuto, whose parents are the only people other than Mike D and Ad-Rock to call him "Philip," was the shortstop for the Yankees during their late '40s and '50s dynasty. He was a five-time All-Star, the 1950 AL MVP, and a Hall of Famer, and went on to be a Yankees broadcaster for 40 years. He's now deceased, though, leaving the Red Sox' Marco Scutaro to hold the title of "Best Paid Shortstop Whose Name Rhymes With 'Prosciutto.'"

1. Harthorne Wingo ("Lay It On Me"/"B-Boy Bouillabaisse")

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Lyric: "Full updated on the hip-hop lingo/My favorite New York Knick was Harthorne Wingo"

Album: Paul's Boutique (1989)

MC: Ad-Rock

Advice to contemporary rappers: don't always go for the easy Cam Newton/LeBron James lines, give the scrubs some shine, too (although if you're going to reference back-up running backs, you don't necessarily need to get this personal). Harthorne Wingo got picked up by the Knicks in February, 1973, just in time for the second of New York's Frazier-Willis-Bradley-DeBusschere era chips. He played three more seasons in New York, with his best coming in 1974-75, when he averaged 20 minutes and 7.4 points a game. Maybe there's a kid somewhere in Dallas working on his Corey Brewer line right now...

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