Knicks SG Arron Afflalo Sold a Bootleg Jay Z CD to Kendrick Lamar in High School

Arron Afflalo has made a career for himself as a scrappy, tough-as-nails guard on both ends of the floor.

That's no coincidence. He grew up a hustler.

In a piece penned for The Players' Tribune, the New York Knicks shooting guard talked about how he went from selling donuts at 13 years old to switching his operation to bootleg CDs.

One of his customers would eventually go on to produce some albums of his own:

"

This one guy from my school named Kendrick Duckworth was really into hip-hop. He asked me to burn him Jay Z's Reasonable Doubt. That's an all-time classic from '96. You couldn't just go to the store and buy all these albums, you know? It would cost too much money. But you could come to me and get it for $5.

Kendrick eventually started making his own music. He got pretty good at it, too. You've probably heard of him. He goes by the name Kendrick Lamar.

"

How crazy is that?

Interestingly, Lamar mentioned Afflalo in his song "Black Boy Fly":

"

I used to be jealous of Arron Afflalo

I used to be jealous of Arron Afflalo

He was the one to follow

He was the only leader foreseeing brighter tomorrows

He would live in the gym

We was living in sorrow

...

"

Afflalo also talked about how grinding out profit margins at a young age translated to professional success:

"

Honestly, I think that philosophy is why I was able to make it to UCLA and have a long NBA career. A lot of dudes have a good jump shot. A lot of dudes can play ball. But how many guys are willing to put in the extra work that it takes? At this level, you have to be almost addicted to the work.

"

Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis, also a hip-hop fan, must be thrilled. He and Kendrick Lamar now share the same hookup.

[h/t Complex]