Legend and rap Icon Earl Simmons better known as DMX passed away on Friday at the young age of 50. It was a death that shocked the world especially the NBA community.
The multi-platinum recording artist had suffered an overdose last week that left him in a vegetative state as he remained on life support. On Friday after multiple reports of his brain activity not improving DMX’s manager announced the passing of the Mount Vernon native.
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NBA Community Reacts to DMX’s Passing
Sports and the hip-hop community have become one and the same recently. As expected, the NBA community reacted to the legendary rapper’s passing.
RIP TO A LEGEND @DMX 🙏🏾🕊
Icon.
RIP DMX😔
RIP DMX if you know me you know I fw X heavy smh this one hurt 😕
KD & LeBron Pay Tribute to DMX
Nets star Kevin Durant also went into detail about what DMX meant to the culture.
“X touched everybody with his energy and his enthusiasm,” Durant said on Twitter Spaces on Friday via Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson.
Kevin Durant on DMX: “RIP to a legend.”
Lakers forward LeBron James also paid tribute to the late legend.
❌4L!! Rest In Paradise LEGEND!! 🐕🐕
LeBron Details How Music Has Changed His Life
LeBron famously was the A&R on platinum recording artist 2 Chainz album Rap or Go to the League. James spoke on what hip hop means to him and what it has done for his life both on and off the court.
“Anything I do has to be organic to me, and I wouldn’t be who I am today without music,” James said about working on the album via Vanity Fair.
“My love for music, my love for hip-hop music . . . what it does for me in my training, what it’s done for me in my life . . . There are days I have gotten through because of music—great artists who’ve been able to use their penmanship to get me through days. So, this was just organic to me.”
Kevin Durant Had Strong Return to the Court
Durant returned to the court for the first time since February 13 against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. He finished with a literal perfect game, finishing with 17 points on 5/5 shooting to go along with 7 rebounds and 5 assists on the night.
While Durant did return to the court on Wednesday, he still did not start due to a minutes restriction. According to KD, it is also a part of a new wrinkle he and Nets’ head coach Steve Nash are trying to figure out.
“I was at a cap in minutes and he [Nash] wanted to see if it was a close game, he wanted to be able to throw me in there in the fourth [quarter]. So he decided to compromise a few minutes early in the game to see what happened later on,” Durant told ESPN’s, Malika Andrews.
“It was one of those exercises that we thought about yesterday and wanted to see how it worked.”
Durant is scheduled to play in his second game back from injury when the Lakers play the Nets on Saturday.
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Kevin Durant, LeBron James & Other NBA Stars React to the Death of DMX