Aaliyah’s untimely passing at the age of 22 remains one of the greatest tragedies in music, but her absence has also inspired a great deal of positivity.
During a segment on NBA Today that was broadcast on Wednesday (October 10), ESPN reporter Brian Windhorst revealed that the R&B singer’s death in 2001 motivated LeBron James to continue playing football in high school after he contemplated retirement.
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“You know why he played football?” he began. “Because of Aaliyah. Because he was going to stop playing after his sophomore year and then Aaliyah, one of his favorite singers, died in that plane crash, and he decided he was not going to live his life being afraid.
“So Aaliyah’s passing got him to come off the sidelines. He’d skipped the start of his junior year — he missed the first game of the year. He joined the second game with no practice, no training camp. He played 12 games, had 1,200 yards and 11 touchdowns, and was one of the great receivers in the history of the school.”
Aaliyah's death inspired LeBron James to u-turn on high school football retirement
via: @ESPNNBApic.twitter.com/96sIt2ejDb
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) October 12, 2023
Aside from R&B, LeBron is also a well-known Hip Hop head. Last year, the NBA superstar shared the names of some of his favorite albums from the genre.
During the Los Angeles Lakers media day in 2022, the King was asked about his musical taste. Though he is from Ohio and based in California, he’s a New Yorker at heart when it comes to his top rap records.
As an ’80s baby, the four-time champion kept his ear to NYC and picked a couple of fan-favorite albums, courtesy of former adversaries JAY-Z and Nas, as his top projects of all time.
“Favorite album of all time? Oh my goodness, wow,” he said, deep in thought about the question from NBATV. “I can only have one album, that’s almost impossible. It Was Written by Nas and The Black Album, JAY-Z.”
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He mentioned both LPs when asked about his Top 5 Hip Hop albums ever earlier that year. At the time, he also named Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle, Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and The Notorious B.I.G’s Life After Death to round out his five.
