Raptors history: Why did rapper Master P play for the Raptors?

The NBA decided that letting a few rappers take some shots in lieu of the traditional Celebrity Basketball game, and that resulted in Quavo showing off his shooting stroke while 2 Chainz and Lil Baby chucked up brick after brick. The entire charade calls to mind when the Toronto Raptors brought on Master P for a brief tryout.

Despite the fact that the New Orleans rap mogul was at the top of his game at his day job in the late 1990s, he decided to pursue his dream of making it in the pros, earning a tryout with the raptors a year after the Charlotte Hornets turned him down.

The No Limit Records mastermind was a 6-4 guard that had enough ball-handling to, at the very least, hold his own against some prospective NBA players, which is certainly more than anyone who suited up last night showed.

Master P’s tryout was a perfect encapsulation of how the Raptors were struggling to get their feet under them in the early stages of the franchise, apparently thinking that getting a rapper on board was the secret serum that would make this team worth watching.

Does former Raptors guard Master P have the best game of any rapper?

The man known as Percy Miller wasn’t brought in for his basketball skills, obviously. At the time, Vince Carter was starting to become the most electric, high-flying show the league saw in the post-Jordan era. Head coach Butch Carter was not a fan of the press Carter was receiving, and he brought Miller in to cut into Carter’s hype. 

Miller was a complete sideshow in the eyes of Carter, who was focused on knocking Vince down a peg. Miller proved, however, that he could’ve probably snuck onto a roster if he chose to pursue basketball at a younger age.

No. 17 wasn’t setting the world on fire, but he didn’t look totally out of his element. While he was brought in as a distraction, he showed his ability to rise up and hit some jumpers, drive to the lane, and distribute the ball. Considering he was on the wrong side of 30, that’s an impressive feat.

Even with the omnipotent presence of Drake hovering around the Raptors right now, it was Master P that had the best shot of adding “professional basketball player” to his resume. At least the Raptors have passed the point where they have to drag rappers off of the street in order to fill out the roster.

Given the fact he’s proven himself against professional athletes, Master P is the yardstick by which all other rappers are judged on the court.