6 God and living cartoon Drake has a certain affinity with the game of basketball and its absolute pinnacle playing stage, the NBA. The official ambassador for his native Toronto Raptors, Drake’s presence at NBA games and events is at an all time high in recent years.
He joins other rappers like Jay-Z (the Brooklyn Nets), Rick Ross (the Miami Heat), 2 Chainz (the Atlanta Hawks) and Wale (the Washington Wizards) also affiliated both loosely and officially with other NBA teams. With the NBA’s annual All Star Weekend taking place in Drake’s Toronto next weekend (February 12-14), you just knew his fingerprints would be all over it.
Cue NBA legend, current broadcaster and murderer of New York Knicks and Spike Lee from 1987-2005, one Reggie Miller to fire some shots.
Seen here taking unofficial custody of John Starks’ children
Miller has called Drake out on Twitter to go 1v1 on a more level playing field for the two of them: the hallowed hardwood of the ping pong table.
https://twitter.com/ReggieMillerTNT/status/695292649880870912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
To which Drizzy responded:
Master is a bit of a stretch. But then again you have to stretch before everything works out. So yes Reginald @ReggieMillerTNT… its a go!
— Drizzy (@Drake) February 4, 2016
You’re on, Reginald. Gauntlets thrown, challenges accepted. The ‘master ping pong player’ quip probably stems from this well-known video of Drake absolutely ruining some poor person’s entire existence at ping pong:
Or maybe this one:
Either way, despite no other details as to when it’ll happen, the two look set for a clash of the titans over the NBA All-Star Weekend, which is usually utterly infested with celebrities and typically features events like the Slam Dunk Contest, Three Point Shootout, Skills Challenge as well as games between American and International rising stars and the headlining All-Star Game.
The weekend also features a Celebrity Game featuring former pros, WNBA stars and celebrities from other sporting or entertainment backgrounds playing some of the crappiest basketball you’ll ever witness. You’ll also catch Drake at that one but he’ll be holding a clipboard instead of showing us his crossover (what a wuss), trying to coach his team to victory against four-time Celebrity Game MVP/confirmed leprechaun Kevin Hart.
The biggest headscratcher from All Star Weekend though has to be the All Star Game halftime entertainment show, which is uh… to feature a probably mummified Sting, who is about as far from anything to do with the NBA as it gets, instead of the glaringly obvious choice of Drake because reasons? It’s a decision that has baffled fans, players and most within the NBA media, given previous headliners have included people who are actually relevant in this day and age like Nicki Minaj, Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell Williams and Alicia Keys.
So we’ll be seeing Sting perform Fields Of Gold instead of Drake ripping through Summer Sixteen in his hometown. Oh well, at least it’ll beat the Pitbull/Ne-Yo/Chris Brown all time clown parade of 2012.
As for this ping pong challenge? Money might be on Drake given his well-documented talents in the field, but I myself just cannot rule out the Naismith Basketball Hall Of Famer, 5x NBA All Star, member of the 50-40-90 club, number two on the all time 3-pointers made in NBA history list and the man who basically told noted courtside pest Spike Lee to go fuck himself on national television, Reggie Miller.
Catch it all next weekend.