How Hip Hop Has Helped The NBA

We see them at the games, Jay-Z, Ludacris, and we know they rap about the NBA and its players in their songs. Yes, the NBA is a part of the hip hop culture. But beyond giving props to the players in their music and having them as a part of their entourage from time to time, the hip hop impact on the NBA has added something more important to the game. That something, in a word, is swagger, and it has made all the difference in the way NBA players approach the game.

Swagger means I am the best! Not just individually but the team I play for is the best. We have the best fans, owners, uniforms and homecourt. Swagger means I cannot settle for second best. The only thing that matters with swagger, is having the most swagger. Only the NBA champions can have the most swagger. Being league MVP, scoring champ or defensive player of the year carries little swagger unless it is backed up with a ring.

Swagger has erased selfishness as a common trait in the NBA. 

Hip hop is the culture that was born out of rap music. Within the culture there is a style of dress, a distinct language, of course rap music and a whole lot of swagger. It defines hip hop. In every song, with every new artist, video, album cover and even record label, rap artists position themselves as the greatest. Their songs boast of being the best, the very best.

How has this translated to the NBA? Well the NBA is more competitive now than it has ever been at any single point in recent memory. More importantly, its top players want to be the best, not just individually, but as a team. This is why Rajon Rondo called Chris Paul a hater, because he has a ring and Paul does not.

Consider some of the terms that are a part of the hip hop language: haters, diss and an old school term, perpetrators. These terms are all motivational for the NBA player. We consider the fan and media base that dislike Kobe Bryant and/or LeBron James to be haters. Their criticisms only ignites the fire in these players to be even more competitive. Witness the on-going feud between DeShawn Stevenson and LeBron James and how it has played out on the court in the past few years.

Likewise no player wants to be dissed. Last year Dwight Howard was miffed when he thought the Magic was not receiving the same "props" as the Celtics, Lakers and Cavaliers. The result was an upset by the Magic in six games over a 66-win team. Being dissed as a team creates an us against the world mentality. Each player recognizes that he must step up, or in hip hop speak, must "represent" from the opening tip-off.

My favorite hip hop term is perpetrators. For our purposes these are those players who are not all they seem to be. I will not name names, but you know who they are. These are the guys who are adored by the media, are named to the all NBA teams, taken number one in the draft and never delivers on the court. They are sometimes named the league MVP. These players inspire their opponents. In rap music and the hip hop culture, perpetrators are despised. If your team has a perpetrator don't expect to win a title anytime soon.

More and more the better players in the league are all about winning championships. LeBron has been on this quest for seven years. The Chicago Bulls fought tooth and nail to advance with a rookie point guard and the Portland Trailblazers and Oklahoma City Thunder are two of the brightest and most competitive young teams in the history of the league. The games are better as well. Fans begin to pencil in early November games as a "must see" event because they realize that teams are fighting for playoff positioning at the beginning of the season.

Over the past few years we have seen more competitive playoff basketball and a greater sense of urgency in the regular season. We see owners making moves in the middle of the season to make their teams better and we see players refusing to sign with teams that are not in playoff contention. Why? Because NBA players, want to show up the haters, avoid being dissed or labeled as perpetrators and at all time they want to represent while on the floor.