New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The NBA playoffs are up and running and the best of the best are competing for the chance to take home a title. With the Milwaukee Bucks looking to make it three in a row, the odds for NBA championship this year also include the likes of the Boston Celtics and the Denver Nuggets.
NBA stars work hard, but also need further hobbies and passions to keep themselves motivated. Many create their own music and there have been lots of releases during, and after their playing careers.
Current Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lilliard is one of those who is playing and recording. He has already received moderate success as a rapper when his first album, The Letter O which was released in 2016 charted on the Billboard 200.
He has since released three further albums with his latest being in 2021 with Different On Levels The Lord Allowed.
The six-time NBA All-Star spoke of his love for music when he released his 2021 album; "I would say music entered my world very young. In my family, music was big. My mom was always listening to music, singing songs. A lot of my cousins did music as a kid, singing and rapping. In my life, that's what I was around. My family dealt with it so heavily and it just became part of me, you know?"
Marvin Bagley
Rap battles have been common since rap was invented and Detroit Pistons power forward/center sparked one with Lilliard back in 2019 which went a lot better for Lilliard than it did for challenger Bagley.
He has since gone on to release his album Big Jreams and has since collaborated with Iman Shumpert and Famous Los.
At just 24 years of age, he has a long tie left in the NBA and plenty of time to pen his next album.
Lonzo Ball
Drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the second overall pick in 2017, Ball has since featured for the New Orleans Pelicans from 2019 to 2021 and is now point guard for the Chicago Bulls.
The 25-year-old is a rap enthusiast and released his debut single "Melo Ball 1" in September 2017 as an ode to his younger brother LaMelo.
February 2018 saw his debut album "Born 2 Ball" released under the name Zo which peaked at number 42 on Billboards Independent Albums chart.
As well as writing his own songs, Ball even appeared on the television show The Masked Singer under the name "Whatchamacallit" though was eliminated in week eight of the series.
Rap legend "2 Chainz" has even given Ball his stamp of approval for the quality of the uplifting and family-orientated music he is creating.
Aaron Gordon
Gordon joined the NBA when drafted fourth overall by Orlando Magic in 2014 and played for the Florida side till his move to the Denver Nuggets in 2021. The power forward began steadily working on his music during the early stages of the pandemic and has released his debut single "Pull Up" in April 2020 which featured Moe.
While he has built a reputation with his spectacular dunking ability, he has continued to work on further music to be released, though the Nuggets playoff run will continue to keep music on the backburner for now.
Shaquille O'Neal
The center from new jersey lit up the NBA during his career, a massive figure on the court who released plenty of music while balling for Orlando Magic.
He released four albums between 1993 and 1998 with his debut album "Shaq Diesel" reaching number 25 on the US Billboard 200 chart. It has since been certified platinum by the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA)
Since his last album in 1998, "Respect", O'Neal has released a number of singles when h has collaborated with Fat Joe, Lil Jon, Steve Aoki and Eliminate.
Allen Iverson
A star in the NBA for 14 seasons, Iverson flirted with a career as a rap musician, but his album "Misunderstood" was met with heavy criticism and ended up not being released.The album was meant to launch his career under the name "Jewelz" but controversy over the lead single "40 Bars" for is sexist and homophobic content from former NBA commissioner David Stern.
Reflecting on the poor decisions and embarrassing content, Iverson said; "A lot of people tell you what you wanna hear, as opposed to what you need to hear. And I dealt with that."
Many other NBA stars have attempted to move into the music industry, like Kobe Bryant, Lou Williams and Imam Shumpert to varied success.
With the financial prosperity of being an NBA star, the options are open to all of them, but only those with real talent will go on to release anything of any real quality.
