July 17, 2025 • 17 mins
Rappers have name dropped sports stars in their music for decades, but not all athlete references are created equal. Today's quick hits episode explores the most referenced sports star in rap of all time, a particularly clever namedrop from a 2013 song, and why Steph Curry holds the unfortunate title of being "the athlete with the least original references in rap."
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Hey, folks, how's it going. I don't want to make
a big deal about it, but you're listening to the
first ever sports dot MP three episode to debut a
week after the last episode. So look around and remember
where you are at this very historic moment. All right.
With those pleasantries out of the way, we can actually
(00:55):
dive into today's episode, which is going to be a
bit different than what you're used to. Please don't freak out.
I'm not going to turn the podcast into Spirituality dot
MP three or anything like that. I'll still be exploring fascinating,
wildly entertaining sports adjacent stories like I always do, just
in a slightly different format. Basically, instead of dedicating an
(01:19):
entire episode to a single sounder saying, I'll be covering
a single sports related sound or topic from a few
different angles. Let me explain, Each normal sports dot MP
three episode is like a narrative book following one main
character or sound, and this new style of episode is
(01:39):
more like a collection of short stories. Now, if there's
one thing in the world I care about, it's you,
the person listening to this, and the last thing I
want is for you to be confused. What can I say?
I'm a considerate guy. So to avoid any confusion, I'm
calling these slightly different episodes quick Hits, and each Quick
(02:02):
Hits episode will include that phrase in the title. Remember,
next week's episode will return to the typical Sports Dot
MP three format you love and hold so dearly in
your heart. Then the following week will be a Quick
Hits episode, followed by the normal format the next week,
followed by a Quick Hits the next week. Are you
(02:22):
still with me? Good? Because I must apologize. I'm sorry
for saying the pleasantries were over before explaining the format change.
This time, the pleasantries are actually over and we can
finally talk about rap lyrics that name drop athletes first up,
the most name dropped athletes of all time. Sports and
(03:11):
rap music have a lot of overlap, so much that
I could make an entire podcast about the relationship between
the two. Don't worry, though, I'm not going to do that.
This new Quick Hits format is enough change for now.
There's one saying that at least partially explains the close
relationship between the two. In short, star athletes want to
(03:33):
be rappers, and rappers want to be star athletes. When
you zoom in a little one thing becomes very clear.
Basketball and soccer players are the most name dropped athletes
in music, and the gap between them and the next
batch of sports players is huge. If you're surprised by
soccer players being so high up on the list, let
(03:55):
me just remind you that they're an estimated four billion
soccer fans worldwide. Compare that to around two million for
basketball and even less for anything else other than cricket.
With that information in mind, do you have a guess
on who you think is the most referenced sports star
in rap of all time. It's not Leonel Messi or
(04:18):
Cristiano Ronaldo, the two most popular current soccer players. Messi
sits at number two on the list, and the athlete
ahead of him has more than double the references. If
you think it's Michael Jordan, you're close, but still wrong.
He sits at third all time. The most name drop
(04:38):
athlete is none other than Kobe Bryant aka the Black Mamba.
Breaking down why he's number one on the list isn't
an exact science, but there are a handful of reasons
that help explain his massive catalog of RAP references. First
of all, he was an exceptional player as Obviously, as
(05:01):
it sounds, the better a player is, the more popular
they become, and it's better to name drop a player
people actually know in your song than an obscure one. Secondly,
he played his entire twenty year long career, which is
another reason in and of itself, twenty years is a
long time for the Los Angeles Lakers. Los Angeles, you
(05:24):
know the birthplace of Doctor Dre, easy E, Snoop Dogg,
ice Cube, the game YG, Kendrick Lamar Tyre the creator,
and a few thousand other talented rappers. If Kobe played
his entire career in Seattle, I don't think he'd be
number one on the list. Third, he was an all
time great shooter, a term frequently used in rap songs,
(05:45):
though the meanings themselves aren't the same. Fourth, well, I'll
just go rapid fire. For a few other reasons. He
won five championships, and rappers love a successful star athlete.
I mean, how else you're going to flex how many
rings you have, or how much jewelry you have. If
you can't compare it to a player with at least
a hands worth of rings, it's bigger than life. Persona
(06:06):
and self confidence transcended sports. He had two numbers in
his career, eight and twenty four, which essentially doubles the
amount of number based references rappers could allude to. For instance,
Beanie Seagull said, quote, I tell them to move slowly
or get eight to their chest like a Kobe Jersey
(06:27):
end quote. Well, King Louis said, quote Kobe in my
two cups, two fours got me too stuck. End quote.
Extra points for saying two four like twenty four, but
also eight because two fours equal eight. And lastly, probably
the most important of all factors is just his name, Kobe.
(06:51):
It's two syllables, rolls off the tongue, rhymes with a
lot of words and demands to be shouted out loud.
Think about it this way. See someone roll up a
piece of paper into a ball and prepare to shoot
it into the trash. I mean recycling, Ben, There's only
one word that person is going to shout, a word
synonymous with letting it fly. I'll let famous comedian Dave
(07:15):
Chappelle take this one, Kobe. For those wondering, yes, that
iconic audio clip is actually Dave Chappelle. And we're moving
on to the next quick hit. Let's talk about a
particularly clever rap reference to another athlete. We are long
(07:50):
past the days of basketball is my favorite sport. I
like the way they dribble up and down the court
no offense. Curtis blow you walked so others could say
stuff like I'm leaving you haters, like when Shaq left
the Lakers just to heat it up, a clear allusion
to Hall of Fame center Shaquille O'Neil to party in
the Los Angeles Lakers to join the Miami Heat in
(08:11):
July of two thousand and four via trade. Earl Sweatshirt
is one of many rappers that loves adding clever references
to athletes and his raps. It's partly why I'm a
big fan of his and have been for so long.
And when I say clever references, I mean clever references
Earl Sweatshirts. Song Chum has my personal favorite athlete name
(08:33):
drop of all time. He says, quote his sins feeling
as hard as Vince Carter's knee cartilage is end quote.
The line refers to the hardness of high flying NBA
shooting guard Vince Carter's knee cartilage. In the basketball world,
knee cartilage is commonly associated with jumping really high and
(08:54):
one of the worst types of injuries for prolific leapers
and dunkers, tearing your knee. So how accurate is it? Well?
Since the NBA began officially recording dunks as a statistic
in nineteen ninety seven, the current all time leaders for
guards is as follows. Number one Dwayne Wade with one thousand,
(09:16):
ninety eight dunks, Number two Kobe Bryant with one thousand
and one dunks, and number three the man himself, Vince
Carter with nine hundred and forty one dunks. Carter also
played twenty two seasons in the NBA, an all time
record he currently shares with Lebron James until Lebron plays
(09:37):
next year and breaks that, but for now, at least
for now, they share it. If you're still questioning why
Earl didn't go with d Wade or Kobe, it's because
Vince Carter's slam dunk performance at the two thousand All
Star Game is the stuff of legends and even resulted
in one of basketball's most iconic audio clips, courtesy of
(09:57):
Kenny the Jet Smith. Tike a listen of this, and
remember he was so hyped up going into it that
people had no idea what they were about to witness,
and he did not disappoint. So you stitched up on
the left hand.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
All this.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
It's about.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Minor spoiler alert. Vince Carter would go on to win
the Slam Dunk contest. Each dunk is given a score
of one through ten by five different judges. At the
end of the event, Carter's five attempts earned a forty
eight out of fifty, forty nine out of fifty, and
three perfect scores fifty out of fifty. When you think
(10:47):
about it, Kenny Smith's iconic call might not be that
iconic if Carter didn't win. But to borrow a different
rap phrase, I guess we'll never know. What we do
know is that some lyrics are created better than others,
and one player stands above the rest to hold the
unfortunate title of the most overused athlete reference in rap. So,
(11:11):
without further ado, let's get to our next quick kit,
Steph Curry. There are a handful of players who have
(11:37):
every right to feel a little pissed off at the
lack of creativity surrounding their name drops. Steph Curry, the
Golden State Warriors point guard and NBA's all time leader
and three pointers made has every right to feel downright offended.
Remember how I've mentioned rappers love to reference shooters. Given
Curry's skill set as one of the greatest shooters in
(11:59):
basketball history, he was always destined to be name dropped
more than the average player. But there's a lot more
to it than that. Curry plays for the Warriors, who
represent the San Francisco Bay Area in Oakland, which has
produced a ton of rappers including Twuopac Shakur, mc hammer
E forty and Larry June. There's one other major factor
(12:21):
at play, and when you combine it with Curry's other
worldly shooting ability, the reason why he's the most over
name dropped athlete in rap becomes crystal clear. Steph Curry
has only donned one number in his illustrious playing career,
and that number is thirty three zero. Just off the bat,
(12:43):
a great three point shooter with a three as one
of his two jersey numbers is begging for some alliterative lyrics,
But there has to be more to it than that,
right right, And that is because the number thirty, just
like the term shooter, change meaning when shifting from sports
to rap. In the world of rap, a thirty kin reference,
(13:05):
a thirty caliber gun or most commonly, a loaded gun
with an extended clip that carries thirty rounds like a glock.
So you have one of the greatest shooters of all
time that wears the number thirty. Pair the two together
and then you get the full picture. Let me rattle
off a few of his rap references just to make
(13:26):
sure you understand what I mean when I say he
is due to no fault of his own except maybe
picking number thirty. The champion of unoriginal athlete illusions. I'll
spare you and myself by only listing five. Baby, I'm
almost thirty, Steph Curry. My brain's hurting. Shoot it like Steph.
I just hit the three and I wasn't even looking.
(13:47):
Got the thirty on me like Stephan Curry. Keep a
shooter like Steph that don't miss. I shoot like Steph Curry.
I always keep me a thirty and that's five. See
what I mean? Remember the phrase rappers want to be
sports stars and sports stars want to be rappers. Since
we're on the topic of Steph Curry and rap music,
(14:07):
it would be a mortal sin to not mention that
that saying does not apply to Curry, and that my
friends sorry too soon, and that my acquaintances is due
to the little known fact that, during his time as
a student at Davidson College, Curry dropped an all time
parody of Asher Roth's I Love College. Out of fear
(14:31):
of being sued, I'll only play a snippet, Curry, if
you're listening, I can honestly say your song is extremely catchy,
and please, please please come play for the Washington Wizards.
All right, ladies and gentlemen, I present a small portion
of Steph Curry's parody of I Love College, titled I
Love Commons.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Their Sunday Brunches, Golden Rule and last night's Carol thinks
you're a sul aw good eye contact just isn't cool
and you're voice call outs. Oh wait too cool?
Speaker 3 (15:02):
That comes last night was awfully crazy.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
I say this so late.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Some chocolate coo, bighead burrito. I had about three plays
Chick pom It Chick my Code two with Francis and jokes.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
And that does it for today's quick Hits episode of
Sports Dot MP three. Actually, I take that back. Steph
has me feeling kind of inspired. I'm anxious right now
and I need an outsho. If you've got an iPhone,
would you please put it in the air. That podcast
(15:42):
last week was awfully funny.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
I'm glad I made it. I joked my face off
and fixed some audio that completely faded. Make this pod
and post the feed one subscribed all I need refresh
your feed Sports at MP three episode every week.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
That's it for me, not like seriously cut it, cut it,
and that truly ends today's episode of Sports Dot MP
three Quick Hits. If you like the new format, please
drop a comment on any of our socials at Sports
Underscore MP three to let me know. And if you
didn't like it, tune in for next week's episode where
(16:24):
we returned to the normal format. And whether you hated
the episode, loved it, were found it absolutely meh. Thank
you for listening. I will Gatchell. This is Sports at
MP three and I'll see you next week. Peace looking
Hey, folks, how's it going. I don't want to make
a big deal about it, but you're listening to the
first ever sports dot MP three episode to debut a
week after the last episode. So look around and remember
where you are at this very historic moment. All right.
With those pleasantries out of the way, we can actually
(00:55):
dive into today's episode, which is going to be a
bit different than what you're used to. Please don't freak out.
I'm not going to turn the podcast into Spirituality dot
MP three or anything like that. I'll still be exploring fascinating,
wildly entertaining sports adjacent stories like I always do, just
in a slightly different format. Basically, instead of dedicating an
(01:19):
entire episode to a single sounder saying, I'll be covering
a single sports related sound or topic from a few
different angles. Let me explain, Each normal sports dot MP
three episode is like a narrative book following one main
character or sound, and this new style of episode is
(01:39):
more like a collection of short stories. Now, if there's
one thing in the world I care about, it's you,
the person listening to this, and the last thing I
want is for you to be confused. What can I say?
I'm a considerate guy. So to avoid any confusion, I'm
calling these slightly different episodes quick Hits, and each Quick
(02:02):
Hits episode will include that phrase in the title. Remember,
next week's episode will return to the typical Sports Dot
MP three format you love and hold so dearly in
your heart. Then the following week will be a Quick
Hits episode, followed by the normal format the next week,
followed by a Quick Hits the next week. Are you
(02:22):
still with me? Good? Because I must apologize. I'm sorry
for saying the pleasantries were over before explaining the format change.
This time, the pleasantries are actually over and we can
finally talk about rap lyrics that name drop athletes first up,
the most name dropped athletes of all time. Sports and
(03:11):
rap music have a lot of overlap, so much that
I could make an entire podcast about the relationship between
the two. Don't worry, though, I'm not going to do that.
This new Quick Hits format is enough change for now.
There's one saying that at least partially explains the close
relationship between the two. In short, star athletes want to
(03:33):
be rappers, and rappers want to be star athletes. When
you zoom in a little one thing becomes very clear.
Basketball and soccer players are the most name dropped athletes
in music, and the gap between them and the next
batch of sports players is huge. If you're surprised by
soccer players being so high up on the list, let
(03:55):
me just remind you that they're an estimated four billion
soccer fans worldwide. Compare that to around two million for
basketball and even less for anything else other than cricket.
With that information in mind, do you have a guess
on who you think is the most referenced sports star
in rap of all time. It's not Leonel Messi or
(04:18):
Cristiano Ronaldo, the two most popular current soccer players. Messi
sits at number two on the list, and the athlete
ahead of him has more than double the references. If
you think it's Michael Jordan, you're close, but still wrong.
He sits at third all time. The most name drop
(04:38):
athlete is none other than Kobe Bryant aka the Black Mamba.
Breaking down why he's number one on the list isn't
an exact science, but there are a handful of reasons
that help explain his massive catalog of RAP references. First
of all, he was an exceptional player as Obviously, as
(05:01):
it sounds, the better a player is, the more popular
they become, and it's better to name drop a player
people actually know in your song than an obscure one. Secondly,
he played his entire twenty year long career, which is
another reason in and of itself, twenty years is a
long time for the Los Angeles Lakers. Los Angeles, you
(05:24):
know the birthplace of Doctor Dre, easy E, Snoop Dogg,
ice Cube, the game YG, Kendrick Lamar Tyre the creator,
and a few thousand other talented rappers. If Kobe played
his entire career in Seattle, I don't think he'd be
number one on the list. Third, he was an all
time great shooter, a term frequently used in rap songs,
(05:45):
though the meanings themselves aren't the same. Fourth, well, I'll
just go rapid fire. For a few other reasons. He
won five championships, and rappers love a successful star athlete.
I mean, how else you're going to flex how many
rings you have, or how much jewelry you have. If
you can't compare it to a player with at least
a hands worth of rings, it's bigger than life. Persona
(06:06):
and self confidence transcended sports. He had two numbers in
his career, eight and twenty four, which essentially doubles the
amount of number based references rappers could allude to. For instance,
Beanie Seagull said, quote, I tell them to move slowly
or get eight to their chest like a Kobe Jersey
(06:27):
end quote. Well, King Louis said, quote Kobe in my
two cups, two fours got me too stuck. End quote.
Extra points for saying two four like twenty four, but
also eight because two fours equal eight. And lastly, probably
the most important of all factors is just his name, Kobe.
(06:51):
It's two syllables, rolls off the tongue, rhymes with a
lot of words and demands to be shouted out loud.
Think about it this way. See someone roll up a
piece of paper into a ball and prepare to shoot
it into the trash. I mean recycling, Ben, There's only
one word that person is going to shout, a word
synonymous with letting it fly. I'll let famous comedian Dave
(07:15):
Chappelle take this one, Kobe. For those wondering, yes, that
iconic audio clip is actually Dave Chappelle. And we're moving
on to the next quick hit. Let's talk about a
particularly clever rap reference to another athlete. We are long
(07:50):
past the days of basketball is my favorite sport. I
like the way they dribble up and down the court
no offense. Curtis blow you walked so others could say
stuff like I'm leaving you haters, like when Shaq left
the Lakers just to heat it up, a clear allusion
to Hall of Fame center Shaquille O'Neil to party in
the Los Angeles Lakers to join the Miami Heat in
(08:11):
July of two thousand and four via trade. Earl Sweatshirt
is one of many rappers that loves adding clever references
to athletes and his raps. It's partly why I'm a
big fan of his and have been for so long.
And when I say clever references, I mean clever references
Earl Sweatshirts. Song Chum has my personal favorite athlete name
(08:33):
drop of all time. He says, quote his sins feeling
as hard as Vince Carter's knee cartilage is end quote.
The line refers to the hardness of high flying NBA
shooting guard Vince Carter's knee cartilage. In the basketball world,
knee cartilage is commonly associated with jumping really high and
(08:54):
one of the worst types of injuries for prolific leapers
and dunkers, tearing your knee. So how accurate is it? Well?
Since the NBA began officially recording dunks as a statistic
in nineteen ninety seven, the current all time leaders for
guards is as follows. Number one Dwayne Wade with one thousand,
(09:16):
ninety eight dunks, Number two Kobe Bryant with one thousand
and one dunks, and number three the man himself, Vince
Carter with nine hundred and forty one dunks. Carter also
played twenty two seasons in the NBA, an all time
record he currently shares with Lebron James until Lebron plays
(09:37):
next year and breaks that, but for now, at least
for now, they share it. If you're still questioning why
Earl didn't go with d Wade or Kobe, it's because
Vince Carter's slam dunk performance at the two thousand All
Star Game is the stuff of legends and even resulted
in one of basketball's most iconic audio clips, courtesy of
(09:57):
Kenny the Jet Smith. Tike a listen of this, and
remember he was so hyped up going into it that
people had no idea what they were about to witness,
and he did not disappoint. So you stitched up on
the left hand.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
All this.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
It's about.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Minor spoiler alert. Vince Carter would go on to win
the Slam Dunk contest. Each dunk is given a score
of one through ten by five different judges. At the
end of the event, Carter's five attempts earned a forty
eight out of fifty, forty nine out of fifty, and
three perfect scores fifty out of fifty. When you think
(10:47):
about it, Kenny Smith's iconic call might not be that
iconic if Carter didn't win. But to borrow a different
rap phrase, I guess we'll never know. What we do
know is that some lyrics are created better than others,
and one player stands above the rest to hold the
unfortunate title of the most overused athlete reference in rap. So,
(11:11):
without further ado, let's get to our next quick kit,
Steph Curry. There are a handful of players who have
(11:37):
every right to feel a little pissed off at the
lack of creativity surrounding their name drops. Steph Curry, the
Golden State Warriors point guard and NBA's all time leader
and three pointers made has every right to feel downright offended.
Remember how I've mentioned rappers love to reference shooters. Given
Curry's skill set as one of the greatest shooters in
(11:59):
basketball history, he was always destined to be name dropped
more than the average player. But there's a lot more
to it than that. Curry plays for the Warriors, who
represent the San Francisco Bay Area in Oakland, which has
produced a ton of rappers including Twuopac Shakur, mc hammer
E forty and Larry June. There's one other major factor
(12:21):
at play, and when you combine it with Curry's other
worldly shooting ability, the reason why he's the most over
name dropped athlete in rap becomes crystal clear. Steph Curry
has only donned one number in his illustrious playing career,
and that number is thirty three zero. Just off the bat,
(12:43):
a great three point shooter with a three as one
of his two jersey numbers is begging for some alliterative lyrics,
But there has to be more to it than that,
right right, And that is because the number thirty, just
like the term shooter, change meaning when shifting from sports
to rap. In the world of rap, a thirty kin reference,
(13:05):
a thirty caliber gun or most commonly, a loaded gun
with an extended clip that carries thirty rounds like a glock.
So you have one of the greatest shooters of all
time that wears the number thirty. Pair the two together
and then you get the full picture. Let me rattle
off a few of his rap references just to make
(13:26):
sure you understand what I mean when I say he
is due to no fault of his own except maybe
picking number thirty. The champion of unoriginal athlete illusions. I'll
spare you and myself by only listing five. Baby, I'm
almost thirty, Steph Curry. My brain's hurting. Shoot it like Steph.
I just hit the three and I wasn't even looking.
(13:47):
Got the thirty on me like Stephan Curry. Keep a
shooter like Steph that don't miss. I shoot like Steph Curry.
I always keep me a thirty and that's five. See
what I mean? Remember the phrase rappers want to be
sports stars and sports stars want to be rappers. Since
we're on the topic of Steph Curry and rap music,
(14:07):
it would be a mortal sin to not mention that
that saying does not apply to Curry, and that my
friends sorry too soon, and that my acquaintances is due
to the little known fact that, during his time as
a student at Davidson College, Curry dropped an all time
parody of Asher Roth's I Love College. Out of fear
(14:31):
of being sued, I'll only play a snippet, Curry, if
you're listening, I can honestly say your song is extremely catchy,
and please, please please come play for the Washington Wizards.
All right, ladies and gentlemen, I present a small portion
of Steph Curry's parody of I Love College, titled I
Love Commons.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Their Sunday Brunches, Golden Rule and last night's Carol thinks
you're a sul aw good eye contact just isn't cool
and you're voice call outs. Oh wait too cool?
Speaker 3 (15:02):
That comes last night was awfully crazy.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
I say this so late.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Some chocolate coo, bighead burrito. I had about three plays
Chick pom It Chick my Code two with Francis and jokes.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
And that does it for today's quick Hits episode of
Sports Dot MP three. Actually, I take that back. Steph
has me feeling kind of inspired. I'm anxious right now
and I need an outsho. If you've got an iPhone,
would you please put it in the air. That podcast
(15:42):
last week was awfully funny.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
I'm glad I made it. I joked my face off
and fixed some audio that completely faded. Make this pod
and post the feed one subscribed all I need refresh
your feed Sports at MP three episode every week.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
That's it for me, not like seriously cut it, cut it,
and that truly ends today's episode of Sports Dot MP
three Quick Hits. If you like the new format, please
drop a comment on any of our socials at Sports
Underscore MP three to let me know. And if you
didn't like it, tune in for next week's episode where
(16:24):
we returned to the normal format. And whether you hated
the episode, loved it, were found it absolutely meh. Thank
you for listening. I will Gatchell. This is Sports at
MP three and I'll see you next week. Peace looking
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