How Christian Laettner Chills from ‘93 Til…
We’ve previously touched upon fascinating tie-ins between hip-hop and the NBA, where ballers want to be rappers and rappers want to be ballers. Yet another example of the connection between the two cultures comes courtesy of LeBron James’ brief cameo in Jay-Z’s video for “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-tune),” which is by no means random or unexpected, since the Cavaliers superstar just happens to be best buds with the part owner of the New Jersey (Brooklyn) Nets. The real fun comes when our favorite NBA players make very odd and at times completely inexplicable appearances in popular music videos.
Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Larry Johnson, Tom Gugliotta, LaPhonso Ellis, Harold Miner, Steve Smith, Christian Laettner — Naughty by Nature, “Hip Hop Hooray (NBA Remix):” Okay, so it’s not an official music video, but a basketball-themed remix recorded for NBA Inside Stuff. Meh, close enough. Tom “The Bomb” Gugliotta’s fake punching is hilarious in itself, but this is an unintentional comedy classic thanks to Christian Laettner, decked out in a beige turtleneck and waving his arms as he lip syncs, “I live and die for hip hop.” This can never be topped.
Alonzo Mourning, Alex English, Walt Williams, Muggsy Bogues, Charles Smith — Hootie and The Blowfish, “I Only Wanna Be with You:” Hooping with the spectacular NBA Jam: T.E. combo of Zo and Muggsy is one thing, but what in the world are Alex English, who’d been retired for three years, and Charles Smith, notorious for his four straight missed lay-ups, doing there? Was Cherokee Parks not available? Anthony “Pig” Miller? Zan Tabak? On the other hand, Hootie gets major props for showcasing Walt Williams, one of very few wins for the mid-90’s Kings.
Magic Johnson — Michael Jackson, “Remember the Time:” This must’ve been the moment when Michael Jackson made Magic a better point guard. Playing one of the Pharaoh’s (Eddie Murphy) bare-chested guards — or aids, if you’re as bad a person as I am — Magic for once escapes without completely butchering the English language in his four lines of dialogue. As is our custom, let’s now take a few minutes to watch a classic clip from the brilliance that was and always will be ”The Magic Hour.”
Larry Hughes — Nelly, “Dilemma:” Kelly Rowland of Destiny’s Child is seeing Hughes, but can’t stop creeping with Nelly on the side…hence the dilemma in the title. True story: Nelly started wearing his trademark band-aid after repeatedly getting hit in the face by errant Hughes bricks on the basketball court.
Kobe Bryant — Destiny’s Child, “Bug A Boo:” Beyonce and the ladies (they really like ballers, apparently) walk into a male locker room, stroll past a few half-naked men, and then get a stare-down from Kobe Bryant, who’s furiously tying his shoes on the bench. Much like Bryant’s ill-fated rap career, there’s no rhyme or reason to it whatsoever, though thankfully Mr. K.O.B.E. doesn’t pick the up mic here.
Corey Maggette, Baron Davis — Common, “Drivin’ Me Wild:” Okay, so maybe the NBA cameos sort of makes sense, since Common raps about a woman being with “the ball player from the Clippers,” Maggette’s team at the time, and in a bit of a stretch, Baron Davis became a Clipper himself a year later. I’m just disappointed that Chris Kaman couldn’t land this part…that would’ve been epic.
Jalen Rose — Styles P,“Good Times (I Get High):” I mentioned this once before, but are my eyes deceiving me, or is that Jalen Rose DJing at the 2:41 and 3:06 marks? I’m sure David Stern was ecstatic that one of his players was in a song promoting smoking marijuana on a daily basis.
UPDATE: Anthony Mason tears it up on the court in some short shorts in Diamond D’s “Best Kept Secret:”
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5pGfakssHc
I have this on my Ipod. No one knows how pathetic and ridiculous I am.
And by pathetic and ridiculous, you mean…awesome? That song rocks! As long as you don’t have any Deion Sanders tracks your iPod, you’re all right in my book, Sam.
Can’t beat Anthony Mason in this Diamond D video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SgJOFXl_5c
@MR: Goddam mu’fuckin’ right, n*gga!
/chugs paint
//sees into future
@Marc: Nice…totally forgot about that one! I’ll update the post.
[...] "When Kendrick Perkins was younger, I never thought he’d amount to anything."PG: Lowposts. Tracking completely inexplicable NBA player cameos in popular music videos.6th: Deep Purple. Like [...]
B. Diddy in P. Diddy’s “Bad Boyz 4 life”?
Anyway, cool post, enjoyed it.
forgot one aha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPNs4JyD5DI
Lamar Odom @2:09
I could not find it but in the long version of Foxy Brown and Jay-Z’s video “I’ll be” chauncey billups makes a cameo. It’s worth looking for.
Grant Hill in Nickelback’s Rockstar:
Didn’t expect to see him there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5se1wupcus
Wow. That Bust A Bucket song is…just, wow. When Duckworth’s pass hit that fucking lame singer in the face, I experienced a joy I can’t possibly describe.
And ‘What’s hotter than Tom Gugliotta?’ is also PURE WIN.
Remember when Shaq did his thing w Fu Schnickens?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHiA-uGwauo&feature=related
@Garard: Definitely should’ve included that one — looks like Shaq makes an appearance in that vid, too.
@Gen @Azhar: Great finds…had no idea about either of those.
@Andrew: I searched and couldn’t find it anywhere online…anyone who has the long version needs to get it on YouTube ASAP.
@KneeJerk: “Forget Tony Danza, I’m the boss.” Fantastic…
Pretty sure thats ron artest in his younger days at 1:25 in this Nas video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7nu9UeodZ0
[...] "When Kendrick Perkins was younger, I never thought he’d amount to anything."PG: Lowposts. Tracking completely inexplicable NBA player cameos in popular music videos.6th: Deep Purple. Like [...]
@bo: Wow, good eye. I’ve seen that video a bunch of times and never noticed Ron-Ron.
@Azhar: since you brought up Nickelback, have u seen this video of them getting booed offstage? Hilarious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7F3O6WYfHQ
[...] "When Kendrick Perkins was younger, I never thought he’d amount to anything."PG: Lowposts. Tracking completely inexplicable NBA player cameos in popular music videos.6th: Deep Purple. Like [...]
jerry stackhosuse in de la’s stakes is high
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6p5tq_de-la-soul-stakes-is-high-1996_music
Don’t forget Mo Pete and Jerome Williams in Shaggy’s video for Luv Me Luv Me
http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/shaggy/luv-me-luv-me–21784980
man you forgot Lamar Odom in Dilated People’s music video for “Back Again”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-YYAYfYUjA
@Mario: To be fair, I’m sure Lamar forgot he was in that too..
[...] "When Kendrick Perkins was younger, I never thought he’d amount to anything."PG: Lowposts. Tracking completely inexplicable NBA player cameos in popular music videos.6th: Deep Purple. Like [...]
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