Ice Cube knew it would be a good day after he thanked God and ate a hog-less breakfast. But what he didn’t know is that he would have one of the best pickup games in playground basketball history. We’ve heard stories about Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant tearing up Rucker Park, but Cube set the standard decades before.
After grubbing at Momma Cube’s house. In an effort to burn calories, Cube called his homies to see if they were shooting hoops. Like most exchanges with friends, it was typical to offer the invitation, but it appeared that he had ulterior motives.
It went like this:
"Called up the homies, which park are y'all playin' basketball?/Get me on the court and I'm trouble/Last week f***** around and got a triple-double/Freaking brothers every way like M.J."
While the offer was aggressive, he let them know what they would be in for if they took him up on his offer. If I was a friend of the rapper, I would feel slighted for multiple reasons.
First, I’d wonder why I wasn’t invited to breakfast because I’m sure Cube’s mother is an awesome cook. Second, I’d feel as if he didn’t respect my hoop game, because he was obviously setting up an encore performance. Being a rapper, his play on words derived from a soft play on how he dismantled N.W.A. on No Vaseline.
While Cube seems to be a cool guy, his subtle trash-talking gave his friends a clear warning of what happened last week. He f***** around and got a TRIPLE DOUBLE! Triple doubles are hard to come by, well, unless if you are Russell Westbrook, Jason Kidd, Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, LeBron James or Michael Jordan.
But for Cube to "f*** around to get a triple double" is legendary. From looking at the footage, Cube hoops in jeans and perhaps Nike Cortez. His choice of clothing is what also adds to the historic semblance of his good day. LeBron complained about short sleeves and Cube hooped in a damn crewneck sweater for Pete's sake!
In addition to the crewneck, the iconic hoop wear makes this day in hip-hop and basketball history more impressive. Playing in jeans brings a feeling of sweltering heat in the California sun. In lieu of his basketball attire, his sneaker decision shows that he was an innovator of the low-cut shoe well before Steve Nash and Kobe.
Standing at 5’8, Cube is a blend of Fat Lever and Khalid El-Amin—not M.J. I know that he claims that he was freaking brothers like M.J, but let’s not get out of hand. At his height, he was more akin to Larry Jordan, not Michael.
When exploring the depths of the famed triple double, there are many questions. Did the game go to 50? Because there is no way in hell you can fill up the stat sheet in a game to 15. Who did he play against? Who did he play with? In order to do the inevitable, having a knock down shooter or a rim-running big man would be key.
These are things that we will never know, but what we know is that Cube had a good day thanks to the young woman he was digging since the 12th grade, the Lakers beating the SuperSonics, no murders in South Central, and of course, the infamous triple double.
