NOTE: This video clip contains some NSFW language when Jackson starts rapping, which begins at the 8:08 mark, so listener discretion is advised.
We already know that San Antonio Spurs swingman Stephen Jackson likes rapping, and that he intends to "do music until [he] can't talk no more." So it wasn't especially surprising to hear him answer a "What do you do in the offseason?" question asked during a Monday appearance on The Breakfast Club, the morning show on New York City hip-hop radio station 105.1 FM, by telling hosts DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha God and Angela Yee, "I rap."
It was, however, a little surprising to hear what came next.
"I don't work out. I ain't worked out my whole career," Jackson said.
"I don't think they want to hear that — the Spurs don't want to hear that," Charlamagne responded.
"That's me," Jackson said. "That's how I've been my whole life."
"So you don't play no ball in the offseason?" Envy asked.
"No," Jackson replied.
"At all?" Envy asked.
"No," Jackson said.
"So not one jump shot?" Charlamagne followed.
"I probably shot, probably ... it's online, the only time I worked out this summer," Jackson answered.
Jackson's presumably referring to this 44-minute video published two weeks ago by sports/entertainment video channel The NOC, the folks behind that Iman Shumpert iPhone video and the documenters of Jackson's foray into youth coaching. In that video, Jackson tells former NBA player turned coach T.J. Ford, "This is my first time touching a basketball since the season's been over with." Apparently, that wasn't hyperbole.
"I been doing it so long, so when I go to training camp, I take those three weeks to get in shape," Jackson told Yee. "I really don't do too much to my body, so ..."
... so only touching a basketball once over the span of four months really isn't that big a deal. Got it. (That sound you just heard was Spurs coach Gregg Popovich grinding down another set of teeth. That's OK, though; he has five rows behind the front one, ready to rotate forward as needed for predation.)
Cap'n Jack wasn't done after his relaxation revelation, though — as he did in explaining the loss that the Spurs suffered in the Western Conference finals at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder, he also offered some succinct, sharp analysis of fellow NBA players' hip-hop skills. SPOILER ALERT: He is not a fan.
"A lot of NBA players that have done rap albums and mixtapes —" Yee began.
"They wack," Jackson interjected, eliciting laughter from the other hosts.
"Iman Shumpert ..." Yee continued.
"They wack. They all wack," Jackson said.
"Hold on, we ain't heard your music yet, now," Charlamagne said.
"It ain't wack," Jackson replied. "I know it."
Jackson walked his comments back a bit, noting that both Shumpert and Kevin Durant — of whom he is the world's biggest fan, we remind you — make guest appearances on Jackson's forthcoming album, "Jack of All Trades," which he said he will release under his Stak5 stage name next month. Not all the way back, though.
"They not that wack," Jackson said. "They good enough to be on my album, but they not better than me."
More brief Jack analysis of the skills of NBA rappers and how they compare to his own:
Allen Iverson: "I eat his lunch."
Shaquille O'Neal: "Not even close. ... There's no swag there. Seven-three, 350 pounds? That's no swag." Then, after Charlamagne reminds Jackson that Shaq can breakdance: "You won't get no breakdancin' out of me." (Jack does, however, think that Shaq's collaboration with The Notorious B.I.G., "You Can't Stop the Reign," was "hard.")
Tony Parker: "Wack. Terrible. Horrible. Horrible. And it was in French. Terrible."
Metta World Peace: (shakes head) "If I'm with you, I'm with you and I'mma ride with you. But as far as music, I can't vouch for his music. [...] I put my career on the line for him, going into the stands and fighting. I'll do that for any one of my brothers. But I can't vouch for his music."
If there's a stronger condemnation of a man's art than, "I'd rather fight a stadium full of people and potentially lose my livelihood than listen to this," I haven't heard it. Then again, maybe Stack just hasn't seen Ron-Ron's new 10-minute video/documentary yet. That'll probably change his mind.
I know it's difficult to believe that a 12-minute interview is worth watching in its entirety, but I strongly recommend sticking with this one for Jackson's discussion of the breakdown of his relationship with the former Ron Artest, breaking up with his fiancee 10 minutes before their wedding because she had not signed a negotiated prenuptial agreement, and much, much more.
During the interview, Jackson tells the hosts, "I consider myself 1,000," as in 10 times realer than those who keep it 100; if anything, he might be understating it. Long may you run, Cap'n Jack. Long may you run.
Video via 1051BreakfastClubFan. Hat-tip to SLAM.
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