Baron Davis grew up in South Central LA navigating Crips and Bloods territory, using basketball to survive. He was invited to perform at Kendrick Lamar's "Pop Out" concert and saw the rare sight of rival gangs united in Compton, a moment he credits to the maturity of LA culture and the legacy of Nipsey Hussle.
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Welcome to the brand new Draymond Green Show YouTube channel. Hit subscribe so you don't miss out on any of our content. Growing up in LA, you obviously grew up in South Central and obviously Crips and Bloods originated here. You know, this is the heart of it.
Yeah.
Growing up in LA, growing up in that, how was it to navigate the Crips and the Bloods and trying to play basketball and trying to go to school. How was it growing up in that?
I think, well, one, you got Crips in your family and you got Bloods in your family. And so they all your cousins, you know what I mean? And at family reunions, it's kind of awkward, you know, 'cause they miss each other, but they can't, you know, fuck with each other or hang with each other, but they grew up together. So like, dealing with that just in your family alone, you automatically like forced to like who you, you know, you gotta pick a side in your family. All right, I'm gonna fuck with my Blood cousins 'cause they cooler. You know what I mean? My Crip cousins, they wild. I don't want to, you know, go that way. But just in LA, I think basketball, if you stick to the game, you feel what I'm saying? Somehow, some way, like it's around you 'cause hoopers come from more inner city shit just as much as rappers. You know what I mean?
Absolutely.
And we more visible, but like you can navigate your way through it. And I think for me, basketball was like almost like an instrument, bro, that I remember playing. We play every day outside the courts at the elementary school. Sometimes it's shootouts, sometimes it's fights. We see it all, but like, we was still hooping, you know what I mean? And then you start playing in different parks. I was just telling the story, my first time really playing on an AAU team, we had K-Swiss, red K-Swiss, Hawthorne High School jersey. So it's red and gold. We had a red K-Swiss bag. We pull up and at the time I don't know the jungles, you know what I mean? Yeah, South Central. South Central. I don't know nothing but, maybe 5 or 10 blocks. So we pulling up to the jungles and I'm like, damn, there's a gang of dudes outside. You know, I'm telling my AAU coach like, hey bro, you sure we about to get out like this? You feel what I'm saying? And I'm in there nervous as hell. I ain't even really, 'cause I'm like, you know, I'm, as a kid, you thinking like, oh, I'm from this too.
Absolutely.
Man, we get out the car, we're in the jungles. You know what I mean? So it's nothing but Bloods. And bro, they lined up and they was slapping our hand going through the gym. Oh my God. These little fools hard. You know what I'm saying? We went and balled out. But it was just like, you start to learn through your teammates. 'Cause AAU, everybody come from different places. And then you start to see like dudes who are good enough to make it, who ain't gonna make it. Like, you know who the kids who gonna fall in the gang back. You know what I mean? And so for me, I was just like, it was so much bad shit happening in my family. You know what I mean? It was like so much negativity in where I lived. It was so much like trauma and traumatic shit that it was like, I just didn't wanna like get in trouble.
Yeah.
You feel what I'm saying? Like I ain't never been arrested, bro. I ain't never been caught doing no goofy shit. You know what I mean? And it was all because my grandmother, like, it was like, I'm seeing it all come through the house. You know what I mean? Or outside the house. And so I was just like, I just was like, fuck it, basketball is my thing. And when I get here, I'm never gonna let, I'm never gonna tell people where I come from or my story or none of that. I just be a funny dude and a silly dude and, you know, trick them so I could stay. You know what I mean? Like that shit was like survival, you know?
Mm-hmm.
It's like, how do you stay somewhere where like it's just you, you ain't got nowhere else to go. You know what I mean? You ain't got nowhere to fall back.
So being an LA guy, and I think we're living in the, or I mean just the last few months with the rap beef, Drake and Kendrick. I wasn't there in person, but I saw online the concert.
Yeah, it was cracking.
But being an LA guy and to see all those guys up there, Crips, Bloods, united like that. And then I was talking to DeMar a couple days later. He like, "Yo, it's been 2 and a half days. There's been no shootings, no fighting in Compton." He's like, "See, this is the piece people ain't talking about." He said, "So it's been," number one, 2 and a half days is crazy.
Yeah.
He's like, "It's been 2 and a half days." Yeah. —And ain't nobody shoot back. It's just that thing. And ain't nobody fought. Ain't nobody shot at nobody. Ain't nobody been killed. It's been 2 and a half days. He was like, what that meant for the city? Like, 2, for you as an LA guy, what was it to see that? And what did it mean, you know, from your perspective, from the city?
I say maturity, right? 'Cause like the basketball dudes, we do that.
Absolutely.
And then I think you starting to see like the rap community, all these dudes is just maturity. You know what I mean? When you see the G Perico, Jay Worthy, you know what I mean? You know, the whole Meet the Woops coming out, like you got Bloods, you got Crips, you know? And for that to be at the Forum in LA, like how it was, it just show a level maturity in LA. And so a level of appreciation for like, and separation for music, you know what I mean? Mm-hmm. 'Cause we all artists and we should all be kind of like pushing this movement and our sound and our music. 'Cause it is a character of LA and we all characters and play a part of the storytelling. And in the streets to be like, this is what's needed. You feel what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. I just give a shout out to all the OGs. I give a shout out to K.Dot, Top, you know, people like Jay Worthy, G Perico for sure. You know, people like these dudes, they always fuck with each other. You know, some knickknacks and shit like that. But a lot of these dudes really fuck with each other. Rest in peace to Nip, 'cause you know, I always felt like Nip was gonna be the person to bring everybody together. Yeah. You know what I mean?— it take that level of self-respect, you know what I mean? And respect for your city. And I think seeing all them dudes on the stage was crazy, 'cause I wish I was there. I threw my back out, bro. Top Dogg was like, "Meet me at 4:30," and my back went out. So I was watching it on the floor. I would've been on stage too, bro. You imagine my shit would have went off on stage? I had already got hurt in the game, you know what I mean? Carted off on a fucking— uh, nah, I'm cool, my nigga. I'm gonna stay here and watch this shit.
So it was really perfect timing for you.
It was perfect. Hey bro, if I'd have slipped, if I'd have tried to bust one of them moves and would have slipped, oh. It would've been over.
Ah, that would've been bad.
That would've been two. That would've been one the league, now one in round.
No, so.
Two career-ending injuries.
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