The NBA world has paid tribute to slain West Coast rapper Nipsey Hussle, a basketball fan who frequented LA Lakers games, after he was gunned down outside a Los Angeles clothing store over the weekend.
The Grammy-nominated artist, real name Ermias Asghedom, was cut down by gunfire along with two other people near to the store, to which he is closely associated, on Sunday. All three of the victims were taken to hospital, where Hussle was later pronounced dead. The two other victims were reported to be in a stable condition.
The 33-year-old was often spotted court side while attending LA Lakers games, himself being a native of the LA neighborhood Crenshaw. The Lakers duly mourned his passing by tweeting a black and white image of the musician in his Lakers jersey, with the caption "Artist. Activist. Angeleno."
Rival NBA franchise the LA Clippers also followed suit with a tribute to Hussle with a moving picture of a Clippers jersey bearing his name, and custom sneakers with the words "money making nip" embroidered across the shoe.
Hussle also befriended many of the league's top players, including LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Steph Curry, who also took to social media to pay tribute to a friend and mentor.
Hussle's Facebook profile stated that he was a "devout member" of LA street gang 'Rolling Sixty Crips'. Eerily, the rapper's last tweet read "Having strong enemies is a blessing".
LAPD tweeted about the shooting that: "We have no suspect info at this time and will provide more details as they become available."
Source : RT Sport News
'One of our own': NBA & players pay tribute to slain LA rapper Nipsey Hussle
'One of our own': NBA & players pay tribute to slain LA rapper Nipsey Hussle
