In the July 21 episode of “The Pivot” podcast, rap mogul Ice Cube discusses his sports venture Big3 League with hosts Fred Taylor, Channing Crowder and Ryan Clark. However, the information that piqued the curiosity of social media was that the West Coast rapper almost took part in a killing when a drug fiend duped his mother out of $20.
In a recent interview, Ice Cube shared his vision for the BIG3 league: to create a platform that would allow basketball legends of the past and future to continue playing the sport they love and make a career out of it.
He expressed his disappointment with the NBA’s lack of support, suggesting that this might be a blemish on commissioner Adam Silver’s legacy for not helping the organization succeed.
The podcast, hosted by three former NFL stars, focuses primarily on sports, emphasizing asking guests about the biggest pivot in their lives. However, Clark was keen on exploring Ice Cube’s life and asked him about an incident that could have had a significant impact on his life had someone been present at home.
Cube’s Big Pivot
As the podcast started, Clark acknowledged that Ice Cube — whose real name is O’Shea Jackson — is a well-known figure with a reputed net worth of $160 million. He has established a successful career as a renowned rapper, actor, and sports entrepreneur, making him a prominent figure.
Clark almost immediately segues into an old anecdote about Ice Cube tracking down a person who had defrauded his mother of $20.
Ice Cube said in the podcast that he was willing to shoot the person, or at least take part in the homicide.
“You and your homeboys popped up at somebody’s house in the hood because they tricked your mom out of $20,” Clark said to Ice Cube. “When y’all went over there to settle it, he wasn’t home. Explain a little bit about where you think your life would be had the dude you were looking [sic] for a bit [was] home over $20?”
“Probably California State Penitentiary,” Ice Cube replied. “My friend, Greenfield, he had just bought a shotgun … so here we just turned 18.”
“I heard about [it], you know,” Ice Cube referring to the addict stealing from his mother. “I go home, this is days after he had got it. [I] go home and my mother tell[s] me what happened. [A] classmate that came by, and I knew he was smoking, you know, I knew he was, you know, not the same person, I went to school with, you know, he had just kind of turned into a fiend, so I knew he lied, tricked her. I wasn’t even close to this dude. I just knew him. [So] I knew where he lived, I went down, and we jumped in his car, [we] had the shotgun.”
Ice Cube thanked God that the person was not home that day when he arrived with his shotgun, as the rapper at the time was young, angry and did not like his former classmate.
“[I]t’s definitely God, but you make the decision, at the time you know, [God] got me out of some dumb decisions, and I’ve been able to sidestep other things, you know, I ain’t always had the courage all the time to do the right things or basically make an impact at the moment of truth, you know,” Ice Cube said.
“I’m saying like everybody else had the moments in my life when I said man I should have did this, I should have did that, or you know, next time I’m not gonna let that happen, and I’ve learned from the moments and I’ve just decided that it’s better to, you know, stand up for yourself at the time then [to] go to bed regretting you not doing what you should have did what you knew you should have did at the time that you should have did it,” the rapper said.
“I’ve always been aware and always wanted to make sure people knew where I stand been assertive, you know, and I made a promise to myself that I would do everything to make sure I didn’t end up in the penitentiary,” Ice Cube added.
