Kurtis Blow Saw Firsthand The Basketball Talents Of Prince and LL Cool J

Zachary Draves | Nov 6, 2024

LL COOL J performs during The F.O.R.C.E. Live at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Rap legend Kurtis Blow knows plenty about basketball.

He not only was the mastermind the1984 hit "Basketball" he got a chance to play with some of his legendary counterparts.

"I played ball with Prince and I remember hearing stories about Prince being this excellent basketball player and all this," he said to Back In The Day NBA on SI. "He has style and skills and rhythm, and he's incredible and so we played a game and it was really, really good."

Prince was a huge basketball enthusiast. He played at Bryant Junior High School and Minneapolis Central High School in Minnesota. He was a regular at Minnesota Timberwolves games after the franchise came to be in 1989.

Blow played games with the members of the Brooklyn based group Whodini while on tour with Run DMC. He also played with legendary emcee LL Cool J.

"I remember playing with Houdini, Ecstasy, and Jahlil and being on tour with Run-DMC," he said. "We used to play ball all the time. I remember playing ball with LL Cool J, as a matter of fact, as well. We had some great times."

In 2005, LL Cool J started his Jump Ball Foundation which provides a basketball camp for kids in his hometown of Queens, New York.

Blow remade his song in collaboration with DoorDash. The new song featured Brooklyn based rapper Lola Brooke and Hit-Boy. A music video for the new version released featuring Sue Bird, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart.

Zachary Draves is a contributor to Back In the Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at zdraves1013@gmail.com and on Instagram @zdraves0633.

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