NLE Choppa‘s newly-opened basketball court in his hometown of Memphis has burned to the ground just two days after opening.
As reported by local outlet WREG, NLE Choppa had donated the court alongside former WNBA player Nancy Lieberman and members of the Memphis city council. It opened at the Raleigh Community Center on Powers Road on May 24, but two days later was engulfed in flames.
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The Memphis Fire Department found the cause to be a pile of fireworks ignited in the middle of the court.
“It is very sad that this random action destroyed a new and valued community asset,” Nick Walker, Memphis Parks Director, told the outlet. “Memphis Parks really appreciates the partnership and sponsorship that led to the creation of The Dream Court, and we really look forward to finding a way to get an asset of similar quality back into the Raleigh community. We have been in touch with Lieberman Charities and NLE Choppa to express appreciation and support for the Raleigh community.”
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Choppa also spoke to WREG last year as the court was being built, and said his goal was to help “save” the youth.
“I’m young myself. I’m only 19 so I’m a part of the youth as well as they’re our future, they’re our upbringing and one thing I just want to focus on is, we save our youth,” he said.
State Rep. Antonio Parkinson, who represents the Raleigh area, told WREG the court’s destruction was “unfortunate.”
“It’s an unfortunate state of affairs when you have an individual or individuals that provide something meaningful and something beneficial to our children in the community and then you have other individuals who want to ruin that,” he said.
“From what I’ve seen, it’s pretty extensive and will take some work to repair and get it back to the state that it was in or ever repaired. I also think we need to move that community center. It needs to be in a high traffic area and not hidden back in the woods.”
In other NLE Choppa news, the Me Vs. Me rapper dropped off his latest music video for “Champions,” which features clips from his recent visit to the Cornerstone Prep Denver Campus (located in Memphis), where he celebrated the student body for winning his reading challenge — the elementary students apparently read over 40 million words.
Later in the video, Choppa can be seen participating in the protest he held a few months back in honor of fellow Memphis native Tyre Nichols.
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“My view from the top of the moon (Space)/ I can see the whole world sittin’ in my hand, amazin’ view (Let’s go)/ We finna break the rules (Let’s go)/ And we gon’ make ’em too (Make ’em too)/ I can’t fall or slip, I gotta stand tall, that’s what a leader do (A leader do),” he raps on the track.
