<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"The worlds of hip-hop and basketball are so closely tied together," said DJ Irie, a Miami disc jockey who has appeared on MTV and supplied the sound track at Heat games the past five seasons. "Rappers understand what athletes have done to get where they are, and athletes know what rappers have done. They both come primarily from the streets. They've both struggled to get where they are." Jocks and rappers, said the Heat's Rasual Butler, "are both entertainers." "Growing up in the old neighborhood most guys either rapped or played a sport," said Butler, who grew up in Philadelphia with friend and imprisoned rapper Beanie Sigel. "We all grew up together and we can relate to one another." They can relate to a culture that promotes confidence, attitude, respect and being the best and letting everyone know you're best. "It's a confident attitude," said DJ Irie. "Listen to a lot of the music. Guess what -- everyone is the best. `No one can do it like me. I'm the Michael Jordan of rap music.' A lot of it is from the streets, and it's about not letting anyone disrespect you. You stand your ground." But at what cost to hip-hop, which has been blamed for being a bad influence on sport, specifically the NBA?</div> Source
No, it's not. That gave me a good laugh. So, because many of the greatest basketball players struggled along with rappers, it makes the NBA bad? I know some hip hop songs promote bad messages, but it depends on how seriously you take it. Funny stuff though.
Nah, its not a bad influence, but the gang culture which influences many rappers could be seen as a bad influence, as it promotes ties with basketball and that kind of culture, which couldn't be further form the truth, all NBA players are legitimate professionals. At least I hope they all are!
No, I dont think it's really bad for the nba. The rap it's associated with is all crappy mainstream rap, that a lot of people listen too, and it ends up being a marketing device. Some people look at it as giving it a bad image. The mainstream rap it's associated with does give it a bad image because that music has bad messages in it, but no one cares about that, and no one ever will, and that's not a problem because they dont have to be worried about it.
Have you guys seen the new articles over at ESPN (expecially page 3)...It's like they just realized that hiphop and the NBA are connected. Now, regarding this particular atricle, here are my 2 cents. Just because you listen to a certain type of music doesn't really represent you as a person. I listen to all sorts of msuic but more specifically in rap, I listen everythign from 2Pac to Sage Francis to Atmosphere to Nas, but that doesn't mean that I'll go around screaming "WESTSIDE" and throwing gang signs, and I'm sure many atheltes are like that. It depends on what you grew up as ("hard" being one in the case of Ron Artest and Carmelo) and if hiphop defined you growing up then yeah, you'd be influenced by it. But my take is that if you're a multi million dollar making athelete, a genre of music shouldn't be dedicating your moves and actions. I'm going to have to pull the race card on this topic specifically. How can anyone say that hiphop is a bad influence on rappers. Is there any reason to say that? Is the the tatoos? The flair? The way they dress. If the NHL was filled with players who "dressed hiphop", would the same kind of statements be made against them? I am not black, nor am I white (brown), but it's easy to see and say that hiphop has a negative influence on the NBA just because maby of these players dress "hiphop". So, as said in another article, "the echoed word becomes the accepted word". Just because Allen Iverson listens to hiphop and rocks durags does not mean that he's influenced by rap to do negative things. Music is music, people are people. I think it's only considered a bad influence to those that are not accustomed to it or haven't listened to it.
i dunno I dont really think it has a negative or positive affect I think it is balanced out. There are some things influenced that arent good or bad. Such as the shorts... its the hip-hop style to wear everything baggy and thats where is started. When the Fab Five and Michael Jordan started rockin the style suddenly everyone was. I think it has an effect on the players and how they conduct themselves off the court but as for on the court actions it doesnt really have an effect so it is inconsequential.
There is no doubt they are intertwined, but the media has made it seem like HIp Hop and Basketball came from the same place - which they did not. However, Hip -Hop and Basketball have both gained popularity when they were intertwined. They will always be related(Basketball is a part of Hip hop culture...obviously). Now, from what I have read and 'researched' alot of it is because fo the NY scene, especially when Hip hop and basketball was in its infancy(atleast the league). Is Hip Hop bad for basketball as a whole? no. However, Mainstream hip hop has had a big impact on the NBA's image as a whole. And it simpact on players is evident. When the kids have grown up on the stuff and are promoting it('Melo in some mixtapes and that DVD) then there's something bad. Is hop hop bad for the league? No. But it is for its image, and tons ofkids are influenced by an entitiy's image alone. So it could indeed be bad in the long run, but for now...IMO its just bad for its image.
The only way hip hop is bad for the NBA is when ballers think they can rap and put out a CD like BBall's Best Kept Secrets!!! For real though, it is like saying pop music is bad for dancing because young girls want to flaunt themselves like Beyonce. Its all relative. Basketball and hip hop go together its a great marriage and as long as it is not taken any further ie. gang signs etc then it should be left alone. Just because Allen Iverson lives and breathes the hip hop culture doesn't mean Tim Duncan does, so market who you want if you do not like the image hip hop portrays. Peace homies!!! LOL!!!
People say Detroit is a hip hop city, basketball is a hip hop sport, and therefore hip hop is to blame for the brawl. The people who say this are not fans of hip hop, nor are they fans of basketball, because then they would know that the Pistons play in Auburn Hills, and the attitudes related to hip hop music are not born of it, but only explored in it. Issues of respect and toughness and violence were always there, and so the NBA could ban hip hop music if they wanted to and the attitudes and behaviors of its players would not change. These critics can surely trace its issues to other sources and find a more likely culprit for whatever problem they think hip hop has led to.
