The Cleveland Cavaliers subtly trolled — sorry, we’ve gotta leave that word in 2017 — Lonzo Ball by playing Nas’ “New York State of Mind” when the Los Angeles Lakers took the floor before Thursday’s game. You can hear Nas’ iconic single in the background of this video.
Why the Cavaliers playing Nas during Lonzo Ball’s warmups is a great roast
Ball said Nas wasn’t real hip hop, and the feud has escalated from there.
They played more Nas, too — this wasn’t an accident.
Why is this a roast?
It started a couple months ago when Ball said, “nobody listens to Nas anymore.” Look, he’s right — it’s not like “Illmatic” or “Life Is Good” is banging with the youths right now. But at the same time, we can acknowledge that Nas is a hip-hop legend and probably deserves more respect than Ball gave him right there, even if he’s only a 20-year-old kid.
On Tuesday, Ball wore this hoodie. It’s his face on Nas’ “Illmatic” album cover, and after his previous comments, you couldn’t exactly take it as a tribute.
The Knicks beat the Lakers on Tuesday, and Nas posted this to his Instagram.
Nas is a New Yorker, but something says he had extra reasons to root for the Knicks on Tuesday.
This is my favorite current NBA rivalry, and it should be yours, too.
