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The song not only traveled to a broad audience well beyond Blow’s native Harlem, it was embraced by someone who worked just a couple miles but several worlds away: new NBA Commissioner David Stern. Kurtis Blow was a crossover rap hit single at a time when those were few and far between. But even without the Jordan marketing magic, “Basketball” by Mr. To give a sense about what a historic pivot point in hoops history this was, there is no mention of a promising rookie named Michael Jordan.
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The year “Basketball” was released, the League was just beginning its meteoric rise from moribund status, with Magic and Bird having just faced off for the first time in the NBA finals. In 1984, Blow dropped “Basketball.” It’s a celebration of the game’s past and present, referencing everyone from Magic and Bird to Willis Reed, “Earl the Pearl” and “Number 33, my man Kareem is the center on my starting team.” He rapped, “Tell me if you were in the joint, the night Wilt scored 100 points.”
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Without Kurtis Blow, it’s safe to say not only that hip-hop as we know it wouldn’t exist, but perhaps the league we know wouldn’t exist, either. Even though-and perhaps especially because-the seminal, trailblazing 1980s rap icon still walks among us, it’s worth appreciating all he’s meant to not only rap music but also to hoops. He survived and is already back on tour, rocking mics for as long as you like. On October 29, legendary 57-year-old rap icon Kurtis Blow went into cardiac arrest, his pulse stopping for five minutes.