Wale's NBA Announcer Snub: Further Proof Rappers Are No Longer Safe At Basketball Games
It's official: the NBA is breaking up with hip-hop. Shaq, Ron Artest, and anyone else who has blown a majority of their paychecks on studio time, you might want to sit down for this. Last week Lil Wayne was complaining about being kicked out of American Airlines Arena during a Miami Heat game, and now hometown hero Wale can't get any respect while watching his Wizards (lose, badly) in person.
>Rappers may still want to be ballers, but it's safe to say ballers (or the office stiffs running the show) have lost interest. Why bother educating yourself on outside entertainers when Kevin Durant is willing to put his MVP-caliber rep (and dapper style) on the line for the love of music? D.C.-area native Wale went to watch the Washington Wizards host the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night. The situation on the court was dire, made worse when announcers decided not to wait for a intern to hand over the nightly "Celebrities in the Crowd" report. "Rudy Gay with the three, and you see his reaction: a fan heckling him, and supposedly this fan is a well-known local rapper, Wale, locally here," said Toronto announcer Matt Devlin. "And Rudy said, 'Hey Wall, eh? I'm in Canada now, eh? Call me!'" added his counterpart. No, it doesn't get better, kids. And there's no way Rick Ross would stand for his MMG cohorts being treated this way. To the nearest Wingstop, stat!
Yes, Wale was heckling, but that's a part of attending live sporting events. Spike Lee has made a second career out of taunting NBA heroes three times his size, and its only added to his legacy. "Wale's inspiring, and I'm sure somebody on Twitter can tell me if they've ever heard of Wale," Devlin continued. "He's not Drake, that's for sure." Well then. We know where your allegiances stand. (With Canada.)
@mattdevlinraps watch ur mouth
— Wale Folarin(@Wale) February 20, 2013
— Wale Folarin(@Wale) February 20, 2013
See, Devlin? No need to get involved--the guys were only joking. Wale later approached the announcers to "introduce" himself, but we wouldn't be so sure that this newly minted rap feud is over quite yet. You've seen what Weezy did to Chris Bosh after the Heat fiasco, and Mr. Dinosaur isn't even in charge of his arena's security! These grudges die hard.
[Photo: Getty Images]