Pump this up in your retirement community or assisted living center.
Juwan Howard, who at 39 years old was one of the NBA's oldest players last season, has decided to record a rap album. Just a helpful reminder for context: Howard was in the NBA for two full seasons before Tupac Shakur died.
Nevertheless, NBCMiami.com reports that Howard is teaming with rap star Rick Ross to release a single called "It's Time to Ball." The song will headline a forthcoming album entitled, "Full Court Press Volume 1."
"I started to have fun with it," Howard, who has more than $151 million of NBA earnings to his name, says of the rapping. "I was like, you know what? I've done this before at home in the shower. But now it's real in the studio. But then I started getting the beat, I've got a little rhythm now."
The album's producer, Shannon Lawrence, adds that he is eyeing Heat All-Stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade for a future posse cut.
"To do some good, clean inspiring music with NBA athletes and a major recording artist in the industry is really the whole thing behind it," Lawrence says of Howard's album. "I would love to get LeBron and D-Wade to be with Juwan."
A sample lyrics sheet shown in the video reveals the following sample rhymes: "You might remember me from Fab 5/ Hoop dream Wolverine jersey number 5/ The Heat is on here I come Juwan bonafide/ I miss my granny, it really hurts inside / I got her on my chest so she lives inside."
Howard won his first NBA title as a member of the 2011-12 Heat. During the playoffs, he memorably got in the face of Indiana Pacers guard Lance Stephenson, who had mocked James for missing a free throw by flashing a "choke" sign. Howard is currently an unrestricted free agent and his future in the NBA is unknown. Wade recently indicated that Howard could return with the Heat as an assistant coach, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
