Basketball players being fascinated with rap is hardly a new phenomenon. Back in the day, we had Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Webber, Allen Iverson, and Kobe Bryant. Perhaps the best-known rappers in today's NBA are Blazers guard Damian Lillard and Cavs guard Iman Shumpert.
There is one more name entering the mix—Golden State Warriors big man JaVale McGee. While the veteran McGee has found his niche with the reigning champs, he's also been honing his hip-hop production skills. Wednesday, he released his newest track, "Birthday Song," for which he was the producer. Stream the new song, via Spotify, below.
The song is named appropriately for the timing in McGee's life. He celebrated the big 3-0 on Jan. 19. From the looks of it, his party was memorable, as Golden State teammate Nick Young got hypnotized and did all kinds of crazy things.
McGee is passionate about music. In an interview last summer, just two weeks after the Warriors had claimed the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy, McGee told Complex about his music ambitions. He had just released his first single.
"I've been doing it since high school, about 10 years, but I've just got really serious this year to where I have artists on my songs and I've got five or six songs I've put out," McGee said.
McGee also said he was hoping to one day produce a track with teammate Kevin Durant featured on it.
"He actually has bars," McGee said. "He raps like Nas."
High praise for the 2017 Finals MVP. We're crossing our fingers that one of McGee's future offerings will include Durant.
