NBA legend Larry Bird was not exactly raised on rap. Growing up in French Lick, Indiana, Bird spent his best years chasing championships, not checking out hip hop. So when he first heard his son blasting Eminem, his reaction was less than impressed.
“My son was listening to that and I was like, ‘What is that junk?’” Bird told Esquire in a 2008 interview. “Then I started listening and I thought, ‘You know, that kid is pretty good’. It’s the storytelling”.
Turns out, Bird came to appreciate exactly what millions of fans already loved about Em: his lyrical honesty, emotional range, and raw talent.
And the comparison runs both ways. Snoop Dogg once said Eminem reminded him of Larry Bird: two white guys in Black-dominated spaces who could hold their ground, commanding the game by the sheer power of skills and talent. “Remember when niggas used to act like, ‘That’s white boy shit’, then all of a sudden that motherfucker put 40 [points] on your ass… Larry Bird is a bad motherfucker, man”, Snoop said on Know Mercy with Stephen A. Smith.
Basketball Network noticed this parallel and ran the story, finishing with a line: “It’s mind-blowing to discover that Larry Legend could actually appreciate rap, specifically Eminem’s music”.
