Canadian rapper Drake has been given a warning by the NBA over bad language, according to ESPN.
Drake, a Toronto Raptors fan who is frequently seen giving animated courtside support, verbally sparred with Cleveland Cavaliers player Kendrick Perkins on 1 May. Perkins said he told Raptors player and his former teammate Serge Ibaka at halftime that the Cavaliers were going to beat them. “Drake butted in, talking shit to me,” Perkins told ESPN. “He said something slick, so I said something back: ‘Sit your ass down and watch the game.’”
Toronto Star sports columnist Bruce Arthur claimed: “This went all the way into the tunnel, with Drake calling Perkins a ‘fucking pussy’ and calling for him to come out.” After the game, the Cavaliers’ security personnel spoke with Drake’s bodyguard as the rapper said: “I didn’t say shit.” Drake later wrote on Instagram: “I just said I liked the hem on his capris.”
The Raptors lost the game by a single point, 113-112, and also lost the second in their playoff series 128-110, leaving them needing to win four of their five remaining games.
In 2013, Drake became a “global ambassador” for the Raptors, a partnership that expanded in 2016 when his label OVO Sound donated $1m (Canadian) to fund the refurbishment of community basketball courts in Toronto.
He is currently occupying the No 1 and No 2 positions on the US chart with his tracks Nice for What and God’s Plan. The former is expected to spend a fourth week in the UK Top 3 this week.
