Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: No matter who you are, whether you’re a fan who happens to be sitting courtside or a megastar rapper/actor/global ambassador for an NBA franchise, you probably shouldn’t be massaging a head coach in the middle of a game.
Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer was right that “there (are) boundaries and lines for a reason.” Drake crossed a line that no die-hard or team associate should cross.
But I disagree about Drake’s antics. Here we are the morning of a critical Game 5 in the Eastern Conference Finals between the Raptors and Bucks, talking about Drake.
There was Budenholzer and Nick Nurse addressing his antics. There was the rep from Giannis Antetokounmpo’s agency calling him out in a tweet that’s since been deleted:
There’s also this response to the whole thing from Drake on Instagram:
He’s getting a rise out of some opponents. And we’ve also seen Drake get a response out of NBA players over the years: John Wall, Kelly Oubre, LeBron James and more. He might have once helped cause a five-second violation. He got Kendrick Perkins to react during last year’s Eastern Semis, and although that didn’t get the Raps to win a playoff series, my point is this: Anytime an NBA player reacts to a fan in his ear, especially one as famous as Drake, it helps.
We know for sure that we’ll see Drake in Game 6 back in Toronto. Maybe The Greek Freak can continue to ignore him and lead the Bucks to the Finals. But if the rapper keeps his hands off coaches and finds another way to distract Milwaukee, he might actually help the Raps win a playoff game.
