Basketball Lifer Dre Baldwin Gets Selected To Play In Nike "Summer Is Serious" Basketball Game

They say good things come to those who wait well that statement could not ring any truer for basketball lifer Dre Baldwin. Before I get into the whole point of this post let me give you some background on Dre Baldwin.

• ·       Played Professional basketball overseas in Germany, Lithuania, Montenegro and Mexico.

• ·       Played college ball at division III PSU-Altoona

• ·       Has released over 3,000+ Basketball related Youtube Videos

                                                                                                                         

    Why is this info relevant you may ask, well I’ll tell you why. We all as humans have a strong inclination to make excuses or attribute our own personal failures to something else outside of ourselves. Dre Baldwin is a guy who himself wasn’t recruited out of high school to play college basketball. He will tell you himself that his game is very limited as far as god given talent and the rest was persistence and hard work putting hours in the gym.

Dre Baldwin has become an authority for young up and coming basketball players to gain insight into what it takes physically, mentally and beyond to play basketball at a high level. People like myself who are on the come up use a plethora of his YouTube videos by him to better ourselves on and off the court.

The best part about Dre Baldwin though is that you don’t need to be a basketball player or even like basketball to appreciate what it is that he's doing. On his Youtube channel he has a segment called “Weekly Motivation” where he basically covers a general idea that translates beyond the hardwood and into other arenas of life. To see what I’m talking about click on the video below.

So Dre established his own lane and thousands upon millions of people in the basketball world have grown to love him. So now the hardwork Baldwin has been putting in has come full circle as he was selected 2^nd overall to Kevin Durant’s team for the Nike “Summer Is Serious” basketball pick up game taking place in Brooklyn ,New York. The game features 2 teams both hand picked by NBA stars James Harden and Kevin Durant. Baldwin was the 2^nd player selected to Durant’s team.

With all of that said good luck to Dre Baldwin and good luck to him in Brooklyn on August 16^th. Make sure you check him out on Youtube and of course Dreallday.com

Throwback Thursday: NBA Rappers

Today July 4^th happens to be the release date for the much anticipated “Magna Carta holy grail” album from rapper/mogul Jay-Z. He has 13 career#1 albums and love him or hate him he is a legend in the world of hip-hop. They say all rappers want to be basketball players and all basketball players want to be rappers well thats actually happened with guys like Ron Artest, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Chris Webber all trying their hand at rapping. NBA players who rap will be the subject of today’s Throwback Thursday.

Some NBA players have a skill for rhyming and others should be grateful they can play ball at a high level. The most notable NBA MC is former Lakers big man Shaquille O'neal who has one platinum and one gold album. He has done songs with hip hop legends Ice Cube, Wu-Tang Clan and also Kobe Bryant. He is no legend but Shaq certainly has had his moments like in the song off his platinum album “Shaq Diesel” in a song titled “I'm Outstanding”. O'neal has done literally everything you could do for a basketball player business wise but this seemed like he genuinely loved rapping. Check the video below to see young Shaq doing his thing.

Ron Artest Like Shaq represents some of the good for NBA Rappers but to a lesser extent. He never had any platinum albums or gold albums or any critically acclaimed albums but he did have some success with his song “Champion” that he released after the Lakers captured the title in 2010. The song made its way on to NBA 2K11 and became the most popular song in the game instantly earning millions of views on Youtube.

Guys like Kevin Durant just do it for fun. He doesn’t have any albums but you can tell that his flow mirrors his playing style on the court which is silky smooth. Although he won't impress you lyrically he isn't as bad as say Kobe Bryant in his song with Tyra Banks. In his song “Worried about Tomorrow” he shows you that he is a legit rapper, Ive even heard people say “KD has bars”.

One guy who I personally liked out of the NBA Rappers was Sacramento Kings great Chris Webber who was featured on west coach legend Kurupt's song “Gangsta Gangsta” its not that bad and he looks and sounds like he knows what he is doing. Had Webber put his time into rhyming like he did as a baller who know he would have turned out.

Allen Iverson might be the only guy on this list who looks like both a rapper and a basketball player at the same time but he had his moments on tracks like “40 bars”. Iverson's music can pretty much be summed on how he did things on and off the court which was his way.

Kobe Braynt has a pretty funny rap career he is most famous for his self titled song “K.O.B.E” featuring Tyra Banks which pretty much is the biggest joke when it comes to NBA rappers. What most people don't realize though is that he is actually a dope rapper on skill alone he might be the best rapper on the list. He a did song with Shaq titled “3x dope” he goes raps under the moniker “K-raw”. In the song he had the 1^st verse and to be quite honest it didn't even sound like Kobe Bryant he sounded like an underground rapper that knew what he was doing. So in terms of Kobe Bryant's rap career, he is trolling all of you fools. Check the videos below to see what I’m speaking about.

The Bad

The Good

So NBA players are rappers too but some of them need to stick to their day job because they aren't going to touch Jay-Z.......Unless Kobe comes out of retirement.

You Don't Know Bo

ESPN'S 30 For 30 series has some of the best documentaries in sports and this one was no Different. In the film “You don't Know BO” ESPN personalities as well as other sports writers/analysts who lived and witnessed the mythological ability of the 2 sport star give you insight into what it was like to witness Bo Jackson playing baseball and football at a high level. Guys who played with him tell you about the raw talent they saw day in and day out. George Brett the Hall Of Fame baseball player and Teammate of Bo discusses watching him in Batting practice for the Royals saying that he has never seen players hit baseball's that far at Kauffman Stadium in his whole career. Bo himself gives you insight to what he was thinking during many situations of his sports career such as the Injury that changed the course of his greatness and also Choosing Baseball over football initially. The Film is very well put together and if you are a baseball or football fan you should sit down and take in this film, the way it is put together makes it feel like you were actually there watching Bo's Career unfold in front of your eyes even if you weren't even alive to see the prime of it. You can find the documentary on Netflix or watch it in its entirety on YouTube. If you are interested in watching the fill then I have taken the liberty of putting the whole video below for you to watch...Enjoy. 

Youtube Channel

Hey everybody hope your Sunday is a blessed one. Just wanted to let all of you know that i recently purchased a new camcorder so i'll have a much more of a presence visually through videos touching on a number of different things. To stay up to date with everything you can follow me on my new youtube channel at youtube.com/Truschoolsports make sure you hit that "Subscribe" button while your at it to

If you haven't seen already check out my 1st video on The Charlotte Bobcats rebranding to get the Charlotte Hornets name back....Remember to subscribe again!

"Seattle Redenbachr":Get your popcorn ready Seattle

Seattle get your popcorn ready, T.O is taking his talents to Century Link Field. Monday after a tryout with the Seattle Seahawks they agreed on a 1 year deal. Its been awhile since America “got they’re popcorn ready”. Terrell Owens hasn’t been in the league for 2 seasons but with number one receiver Sidney Rice sidlined by injury the Seahwaks are looking for answers at the wide receiver position and have reached at out to the ever flamboyant Owens for help. There is no questioning his talent or physical condition as a football player but his off the field quotations and actions have always rubbed people the wrong way. With 15,394 yards and 153 Touchdowns Terrell Owens stands as one of the greatest receivers too ever play this game. Many people believe he is primed for a big season in Seattle. He will play 8 Sundays on the same gridiron where he famously pulled out a sharpie after scoring a touchdown with the San Francisco 49ers on monday night football and put is autograph on the football and gave to a fan in the crowd. If T.O can keep his mouth shut and stay out the headlines for the wrong reason he has a chance to change public perception of him. All I know is I got my popcorn ready and im ready to see  “Seattle Redenbacher”

Ichiro a Yankee

Its been a very odd 2 days in Seattle for baseball fans. On Monday the New York Yankees aquired 10 time All-star Ichiro Suzuki from the Seattle Mariners. Ichiro in another uniform is weird enough but Ichiro playing his 1st game in Seattle with the Yankees batting 8th is even more odd. In a press conference held at Safeco field the former Mariner franchise player said “I’m going from a team with the most losses to a team with the most wins so it’s hard to contain my excitement” . He stepped up to the plate like he’s done many times before wearing #31 he was greeted by 29,911 of the Seattle faithful with a standing ovation and a tip of the cap. He dug in ready to face Kevin Milwood and very quickly he smacked a single right up the middle and got on base in the 2nd inning. He wasted no time Stealing his 16th base of the season and a lot of fans probably started saying “where was that yesterday” in they’re mind. Ichiro would go 1-4 with a stolen base and rbi on route to a 4-1 Yankee win in his debut. As odd as Monday night was Tuesday night might have even been a more odd sight to see. During the top of the 3rd inning Ichiro had his 1st plat appearance against “King Felix” Hernandez. If you are a Mariner fan this was a sight too see the All-time hit Leader vs. one of best pitchers in franchise history. The 2 Seattle cornerstones squared off and Felix got the better of Ichiro jamming him inside and getting him to pop out to 3rd baseman Kyle Seager. In the top of 6th the elite hitter got revenge on his former teamate Doubling  down the right field line for his 16th double of the season. The duel between the former teamates would end afte Ichiro got hit by a pitch in the 7th inning and Felix was taken out of the ballgame. So what does Ichiro in New York city mean? It mean the at for the 1st time in his career he truly has a chance to get the only thing he hasn’t accomplished in his illustrious baseball career. He gets to do it on one of baseball’s biggest stages ina huge media market. Playing in New York should give Ichiro a breath of freah air and rejuvenate him back to All-star form. He was only hitting 261. In Seattle which is far from normal for the Japanese phenom. As much as I hate the Yankees I wouldn’t mind seeing one of my generations greatest players finally get a ring.