Lonzo “Zo” Ball
Sean Ahern
The best rapper from the NBA is a current player who could use some love after all his injuries, and that is Lonzo Ball. It seems like just yesterday he was playing for Chino Hills High School and recording short, funny freestyle clips with his brothers, but his music career really has seen success as a professional. He has released three albums since 2018 with a handful of singles that reached millions of plays on Spotify, including “ZO2” which has 9,467,232 plays. His debut album, Born 2 Ball, ended up peaking at No. 42 on Billboard’s Independent Albums chart in March of 2018. His last release was the single “Die Young” in February of this year, so it has been quite a wait since new content. His 39,677 monthly listeners remain optimistic to hear new music soon.
Marvin Bagley III
Evan Rodriguez
In the grand scheme of the history of the NBA, few may remember the 2019 rap battle between Damian Lillard and Marvin Bagley III, where the former Duke graduate said on First Take that he could go toe-to-toe in a rap battle with Lillard. But, if you were to go listen to the song “Checkmate” and some of the other tracks in that heated matchup, you’d see the talent that he possesses. While Lillard did win the battle in the end and is still known by many as the GOAT of the NBA rap world, Bagley held his own and spit some incredible bars on those songs. Basketball fans shouldn’t forget about his talent in the hip-hop world and he should still be mentioned as one of the greatest NBA rappers of all time.
Andre Drummond
Stratton Stave
Although he’s not the biggest name in the NBA rap scene, it’s hard to ignore Drummond – known in the rap world as Dre Drumm or Drummxnd – as a key figure. The UConn standout has a good flow and is versatile in his style. His lyrics are solid and often relate to his time playing in the league, something that has to give him brownie points in the conversation. Though he isn’t the most popular or listened to, it’s not for a lack of talent. When he does produce, it’s great, but he hasn’t done so very frequently and has often avoided sticking to one platform. With more dedication Drummond could be exceptional, but for now he remains under the radar.
Metta Sandiford-Artest
Cole Stefan
If this roundtable had been about athletes who were musical artists, like staff writer Nick Spinali wrote about last week, I would not hesitate to put down guitarists Henrik Lundqvist, Barry Zito or Bernie Williams. Since this roundtable focuses on the rap genre (happy belated birthday, Jay-Z, a former part-owner of the Brooklyn Nets), I want to highlight Metta Sandiford-Artest. Changing his name from Ron Artest to Metta World Peace during his 17-year NBA career, Artest’s single “Champions” earned a spot on the NBA 2K11 playlist. Sharing a spot in an NBA 2K game’s playlist that features elite rappers such as Snoop Dogg, flute master Kid Cudi and Drake is an honor within itself, but having a track on top of his own avatar in a game revolving around Michael Jordan’s career is special. Despite a relatively underrated rap career that has not resulted in a track on Apple Music since 2011, Artest clears the field because EA Sports decided that his music was worthy of a spot on a 2K playlist 13 years ago.