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Lakers News: Mavericks Coach Compares LA Guards to Hip Hop Legends

The games of these artists had plenty in common with those of two pricey Lakers.

Alex Kirschenbaum

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During a wide-ranging conversation with former NBA point guard-turned-Dallas Mavericks assistant coach God Shammgod, Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson of Bally Sports and Shammgod discussed the games of his childhood friends Mase and Cam'ron, with whom he grew up in Harlem, and found some interesting Los Angeles Lakers player analogies for both.

"Mase was like Pat Bev [Lakers starting shooting guard Patrick Beverley]. Cam was more like [Lakers sixth man point guard Russell] Westbrook. At a young age, like 15, Cam was very athletic. He didn't really have a handle, like Harlem, like shake-and-bake and all that, he was just straight to it. Kind of like Westbrook, straight to it, very athletic, straight to the rim. 

"Mace used to come and get me every morning just to play defense so he could work on his defense. He would never just shoot or nothing, he would just guard me. Mace is an agitator. He'd be on the court, talking crap, elbowing you, doing just crazy stuff. [If] Cam'ron would've kept playing basketball, he'd have been probably a McDonald's All-American. At 15 years, and the city champ, he was getting MVPs and all that."

Mase's 1997 debut, "Harlem World," was a #1 hit on the Billboard charts and has since been certified four-times Platinum (recognizing sales of four million copies) stateside. He went on to release two other Gold-certified records, all through Bad Boy Entertainment. Cam'ron has released seven studio albums to date, via Epic, Roc-A-Fella Records and Diplomat. Two have been certified Gold, while his biggest hit, "Come Home With Me" in 2002, was certified Platinum in the U.S.

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Alex Kirschenbaum
ALEX KIRSCHENBAUM

Basketball is Alex's favorite sport, he likes the way they dribble up and down the court.

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