Rakim

FILE - Toronto Raptors' Kawhi Leonard, front left, holds his MVP trophy while posing with rapper/producer Drake as they celebrate during the team's NBA basketball championship parade in Toronto, June 17, 2019. Just as a movie soundtrack helps viewers follow the action of the narrative through each plot twist, hip-hop has done the same for basketball via the NBA. Drake has been a global ambassador for his hometown team the Toronto Raptors since 2013 and is often seen on the sidelines interacting with coaches and players. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP, file)

The NBA has been playing to a hip-hop beat for nearly 50 years

Just as a movie soundtrack helps viewers follow the action of the narrative through each plot twist, hip-hop has done the same for basketball via the NBA.

FILE - Philadelphia rapper PnB Rock performs at the 2018 Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Del., on June 16, 2018. The rapper, whose real name is Rakim Allen, was fatally shot during a robbery in South Los Angeles on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. He is best known for his 2016 hit “Selfish.” He released his latest song, “Luv Me Again,” on Sept. 2. (Photo by Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP, File)

Woman, minor arrested in shooting of rapper PnB Rock in LA

Rapper PnB Rock fatally shot in Los Angeles restaurant

Rapper A$AP Rocky, right, appears in a Los Angeles Superior courtroom on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, and pleaded not guilty to assault charges stemming from a November 2021 run-in with a former friend in Hollywood. The rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, remains free on $550,000 bond and is due back in court Nov. 2, 2022. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

A$AP Rocky pleads not guilty to firearm assault charges

FILE - Recording artist A$AP Rocky attends the premiere for "Stockholm Syndrome," during the 20th Tribeca Festival at The Battery on Sunday, June 13, 2021, in New York. On Monday, Aug. 15, 2022, A$AP Rocky was charged with two felonies for pulling a gun on a former friend and firing in Hollywood in 2021, prosecutors said. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File)

Rapper A$AP Rocky charged with felony assault with a firearm

FILE - A$AP Rocky, left, and Rihanna attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion" exhibition in New York on Sept. 13, 2021. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Reports: Rihanna and A$AP Rocky welcome baby boy in LA

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky have welcomed a baby boy, according to multiple reports. The couple first revealed her pregnancy with a belly-baring Harlem photo shoot in January.

FILE - A$AP Rocky attends the Pre-Grammy Gala And Salute To Industry Icons on Feb. 9, 2019 in Beverly Hills, Calif. A$AP Rocky was taken into custody Wednesday, April 20, 2022 at Los Angeles International Airport in connection with a shooting in Hollywood last year, authorities said. The performer, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was detained on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement Wednesday.(Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

Rapper A$AP Rocky arrested at LA airport in 2021 shooting

Rapper A$AP Rocky has been taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport in connection with a shooting in Hollywood last year.

Lawyers gather for the verdict on American rapper A$AP Rocky at Stockholm District Court, in Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday Aug. 14, 2019. The Swedish court on Wednesday found American rapper A$AP Rocky guilty of assault for his role in a June 30 street brawl in Stockholm. (Anders Wiklund / TT via AP)

The Latest: A$AP Rocky lawyer ‘disappointed’ by verdict

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Latest on A$AP Rocky’s trial for assault in Stockholm (all times local):

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A$AP Rocky, rear, and his defence lawyer Slobodan Jovicic in the district court in Stockholm, Friday Aug. 2, 2019, on the third day of A$AP Rocky's trial. American rapper A$AP Rocky testified Thursday at his assault trial that he did everything possible to avoid a confrontation with two men he said were persistently following his entourage in Stockholm, but one of those men picked a fight with one of his bodyguards. (Court Illustration by Anna Harvard/TT via AP)

Freed from Swedish jail, rapper A$AP Rocky lands in US

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nearly a month after he was arrested in Sweden, rapper A$AP Rocky returned to the United States as the verdict in an assault case against him and two other Americans looms.

One of A$AP Rocky's bodyguards arrives at the district court in Stockholm, Friday Aug. 2, 2019, the third day of A$AP Rocky's trial. American rapper A$AP Rocky testified Thursday at his assault trial that he did everything possible to avoid a confrontation with two men he said were persistently following his entourage in Stockholm, but one of those men picked a fight with one of his bodyguards. (Fredrik Persson/TT via AP)

The Latest: A$AP Rocky: Detention was “humbling” experience

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Renee Black, centre, mother of American rapper A$AP Rocky, leaves the district court in Stockholm, following the second day of testimony Thursday Aug. 1, 2019. Pleading not guilty American rapper A$AP Rocky testified in court Thursday, as he stands on charges of assault.(Fredrik Persson / TT via AP)

A$AP Rocky testifies in Sweden, says he tried to avoid fight

STOCKHOLM (AP) — American rapper A$AP Rocky testified Thursday at his assault trial in Sweden that he did everything possible to avoid a confrontation with two men he said were persistently following his entourage in Stockholm, but one of those men picked a fight with one of his bodyguards.

US presidential envoy sent to Sweden for A$AP Rocky’s trial

HELSINKI (AP) — American rapper A$AP Rocky pleaded not guilty to assault as his trial in Sweden opened Tuesday, a month after a street fight that landed him in jail and became a topic of U.S.

FILE - This Feb. 9, 2019 file photo shows A$AP Rocky at Pre-Grammy Gala And Salute To Industry Icons in Beverly Hills, Calif. Prosecutors in Sweden are dropping the investigation of a man they say was involved in a fight with American rapper A$AP Rocky. The platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated artist whose real name is Rakim Mayers, has been behind bars since early this month as police investigate the fight in Stockholm.(Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

Man in A$AP Rocky case allegedly hit with bottle, kicked

HELSINKI (AP) — The man allegedly assaulted by American rapper A$AP Rocky and two other men in Stockholm was kicked while on the ground and hit with a bottle, Swedish prosecutors said in court documents obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

Trump says he’s trying to bring rapper A$AP Rocky home

WASHINGTON (AP) — Urged on by the first lady and celebrities including Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West, President Donald Trump said Friday he is trying to help free rapper A$AP Rocky, who has been held in police custody in Sweden for weeks.

Sweden wants extension of rapper’s detention after fight

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky is being held for another week in pre-trial detention to allow police to finish investigating a June 30 fight in downtown Stockholm, a Swedish court said Friday.