Since the public announcement came on Sunday about rapper Nipsey Hussle’s murder, many pro stars from the NBA have spoken out about their feelings, paying tribute to their recently deceased friend. Those basketball players have included Steph Curry, LeBron James, and now Jordan Clarkson from the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to TMZ
“We was on a bus and kind of all talking and stuff like that. It’s crazy,” Clarkson said, according to Cleveland Plain Dealer . “I was like, ‘Man, it felt like somebody took my family member from me.’ That’s what it felt like. This is a whole thing, man. It’s just embarrassing to us. It’s just crazy, man. Crazy stuff.”
Clarkson’s comments have been remarkably passionate. After the Cleveland Cavaliers guard heard about Nipsey Hussle’s death on Sunday, he took over the microphone in a Scottsdale nightclub. Clarkson talked about gang and gun violence during his speech and sang Hussle’s praises.
Clarkson was in Phoenix with his team to get ready for their game against the Suns on Monday. Right before Hussle’s murder on Sunday night, Clarkson was enjoying himself at the International Boutique Nightclub when he received word about the rapper’s death.
The 26-year old basketball player has been far more active on his social media pages since hearing about Hussle’s passing. The 33-year-old rapper had been nominated for a Grammy prior to his death and earned a reputation for his realistic lyrics and charity work in South Los Angeles. Hussle was part of the group that created Destination Crenshaw, which is an open-air museum celebrating African-American creativity.
Clarkson formerly played on the Los Angeles Lakers from 2014-2018, and he knew the Los Angeles rapper. After Clarkson left Los Angeles to join the Cleveland Cavaliers, the two stayed close and exchanged comments often on their social media pages.
Jordan Clarkson on Nipsey Hussle Murder, ‘Stop Killing Black People’ https://t.co/D8K3gsaBJM
— TMZ (@TMZ) April 1, 2019
Hussle, who was born Ermias Asghedom, met Clarkson face-to-face on a few occasions while Clarkson played for the Lakers. During his tenure as a Lakers player, Clarkson said that Hussle often came to the Staples Center and watched the Lakers play their home games, sitting courtside. Hussle’s interest in the Lakers is how Clarkson came to first know the rapper. Clarkson says he was greatly impacted by Hussle’s work, message, and music, and said Hussle was extremely talented.
“He’s so important to the culture and it’s detrimental in terms of that,” Clarkson said, according to Cleveland Plain Dealer .” In terms of everything, you have a black man that’s doing good for himself no matter his past or whatever he had done. In his own neighborhood, started his own business, had his own thing going and he gets shot on a Sunday. It’s almost embarrassing to our culture and to us as people that we would do something like that.”