Baron Davis scores a triple-double with Crips and Bloods: Made In America

Baron Davis has given me food for thought.

For years, I’ve despised NBA players who leveraged their basketball celebrity into poor rap albums, lame movies, and sub par modelling careers. Being an old school head, I want athletes to play their sport and, with few exceptions, do nothing else.

There are two reasons for my feelings. First, an athlete who is spitting sixteen bars in the booth or reading a movie script featuring the Olsen twins isn’t working on basketball –his job and craft.

Second, the results have been mediocre. Shaq rhyming with Fu-Schnikens in 1993 was entertaining, but I can do without his and most of the other baller-turned- rapper albums that followed. Same thing for the athlete movies, television shows, and modelling.

On Thursday after work, I stumbled on Davis’ Crips and Bloods: Made In America. B-Diddy’s documentary examines the history of South Central Los Angeles and explains how the Crips and Bloods evolved as a response to the American government destroying or killing the leaders of the Civil Rights movement. The film also looks at potential solutions to America`s `civil war` and features fascinating interviews.

Davis worked as a producer on Crips and Bloods: Made In America. And this is the first time I’m glad an athlete has used their celebrity and money to pursue artistic passions outside of their sport.

(The official trailer for Crips and Bloods: Made In America.) 

Got an opinion on Davis’ movie? Can you think of an athlete who has succeeded as a rapper, actor, or producer? Get at us with thoughts in the comment box below and return to HoopsVibe the Blog for more NBA tidbits. Photo courtesy of Teclogic.