Master P’s professional basketball history is well documented. The No Limit colonel played in the NBA summer league with the Charlotte Hornets in 1998 and again the following year for the Toronto Raptors. In an interview with Young Jack Thriller and ThisIs50, the artist born Percy Miller reflects on beating Michael Jordan in a game of pickup basketball.
“It was a basketball game my son [Lil Romeo] was playing at his camp,” P said during the interview. Apparently, Romeo refused to wear the standard issue Air Jordans like the rest of the athletes at the camp. “Rome’ hit me and said, ‘Dad, he tripping,” P continued, “So I flew down there to the game.
“The next day at the game, I was like, ‘[My son] ain’t about to take no shoes off.’ They had a little game where all the pros play or whatever. When we first got into he said, ‘Man, you ain’t no baller. You make music.’ I said, ‘I make music and I play ball.’ I had Gilbert Arenas. I had Meta World Peace, me and two other college players. Jordan had all pros playing with him.’
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“In a pickup game, you win or you go sit on the side. So I said, ‘I’m gonna go pick up Jordan and see what happen. The first time he go to the basket, I hit him. Then the guy who runs the camp came over like, ‘You OK, J? You OK, J?’ I said, ‘Yeah, he OK. He said he from the streets. Let’s play.’ I got Gilbert Arenas and Ron Artest real pumped up. They were like, ‘Yeah, we can beat these dudes.’ It was like a real street game. Then at the end we won. I turned all the way up. It was cool. Ever since then we been friends.”
During a recent conversation with HipHopDX, Master P explained why he was cut from the Charlotte Hornets.
“The GM [Bob Bass] came back to me and said, ‘You know what, man? You’re a helluva player. But your music is pure filth.’ That’s why he let me go. I said, ‘That’s cold blooded.’ But the fans went crazy after that and he had to deal with it. He listened to my records and really seen what that was. He was like, ‘Nah. [Laughs]”
For more on Master P, view the DX Daily below:
