Rap lyrics referencing LeBron, MJ or Kobe are pretty standard in hip-hop. But how about name-dropping Wilt Chamberlain, Amare Stoudemire, Kyrie Irving, Dominique Wilkins, Tony Allen, Scottie Pippen, Jason Williams, Kevin Garnett, Anthony Davis, John Stockton, and CJ McCollum all in under 3 minutes? Thats what BabyTron does in his song AirTron, which samples Kurtis Blows 1984 classic Basketball and has over 1.5 million views on YouTube.
One-third of Detroit scam-rap trio the ShittyBoyz, BabyTron knows ball. All throughout his discography, Tron flexes elite NBA knowledge, with bars like You aint been shit since you left college, Frank Kaminsky or Ima call you Dennis Schrder, you done sold the baga callback to when Schrder famously rejected a massive $84 million offer from the Lakers in free agency, only to end up signing a modest 1-year deal in Bostonor Shell never get a ring like CP3. (Every year I just hope he retires, he says of the HOF PG.)
Tron keeps up with hoops no matter where he isat home, on the road or even in the studio while hes recording. I love basketball so much, whether its on TV, YouTube or in person at the gym. So that shit is just cemented in my brain. Of his obscure hoops references, BabyTron says, Thats what I was interested in in life when I first started rapping, so it was easy to say a crazy ass basketball players name. I used to study basketball, because I wanted to play basketball. When you rap, you study rap.
And he doesnt need to put in any extra Basketball Reference research hours to come up with his lyrics. His mixtape knowledge goes deepfrom Aquille Carr to Marcus Lovett to Seventh Woodsand his favorite hoop sneakers of all time include the Legend Blue Jordan XIs, the Weatherman KD 4s and the Miami Hurricanes LeBron 9s. This is a kid who grew up with a collection of NBA jerseys that included KG on the Celtics, Melo on the Nuggets, LeBron on the Cavs and Kobes original No. 8.
His hometown team, the Pistons, hosted BabyTron for a halftime performance after he was named an XXL Freshman in 2022, and hoopers like KD, Cade Cunningham and Jordan Poole all co-sign his music (Jordan PooleIm happy he got off the Wizards!). But his own high school basketball career was short-lived. I got in an argument with the coach at freshman tryouts, I walked out the gym before they even picked the team or anything. I think it was because I was on my phone, on some bullshit, BabyTron recalls, before adding, I was cold, though. I play like Lukano defense, score 100 points.
The 25-year-olds latest project is fittingly titled Luka Troncic 2, which hit major streaming platforms on August 1. Tron heralds LT2 as the greatest music to ever be created, which may sound brash until you realize this is an artist who equates his discography to Stephen Currys career arc. The list of NBA name-drops on this latest release includes Rodney Stuckey, JJ Barea, Payton Pritchard, Reed Sheppard, OG Anunoby, Andre Drummond and Marcus Camby. One track even features Shannon Sharpes infamous OKC, KFC, UFC Lakers in 5! clipa not-so-subtle nod to Trons Finals pick for next year: L.A. over Detroit.
My two favorite players are on the same team: Broncic, BabyTron says of the Luka-and-LeBron-led Lakers. In a perfect world, they need to win this year and LeBron just needs to retire gracefully. This needs to be his last seasonaint it his 23rd season? Hes number 23. Only makes sense. See: BabyTron knows ball.
Photos via Getty Images.
