Lil B the Based God is a kind and benevolent god. But as James Harden and the Houston Rockets found out the hard way, the Based One giveth, and he taketh away.
The Bay Area rapper and based lifestyle guru known to curse those that steal his swag has become the most important and unpredictable factor in the NBA Playoffs, boosting his hometown Golden State Warriors to the finals while crushing cooking dance imitators like Harden, much like he did nemesis Kevin Durant back in 2011.
So fearsome is his Based God Curse that in the last week alone the Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, and the Brooklyn Nets have given Lil B the Twitter follow, paying their respects in order to receive his based blessings next season.
Kanye showed up in Oakland Wednesday night for Game 5 of the Warriors-Rockets Western Conference Finals. But who cared? Bay rap legend Too $hort spoke for all Golden State fans, hoping that their homegrown 25-year-old lucky charm was in the house:
He was. The Warriors won 104-90. Coincidence? I think not.
Now he’s got Cleveland fans anxious. Are LeBron James and the Cavs in danger of incurring Lil B’s wrath?
Lil B was in Los Angeles last night to spread his based gospel to 700 rapt UCLA students, but he declined to go off on “that NBA stuff” during his 90-minute guest lecture.
“There’s a time and place for that, and I think there’s more important stuff that we can talk about,” he told the crowd before leading them in a deep breathing exercise and waxing philosophical on the federal government, oil dependency, news media, creativity, mental health, his cat Keke, and his patented brand of based positivity. “You feel me?”
After his sermon, The Daily Beast caught up with Lil B as the last members of his flock trickled out, clutching the potted plants he’d brought as gifts for his faithful.
“It’s all about just being real,” he said of the power of his Based God Curse and blessings. “Because everything that Lil B and The Based God does comes from the heart. Things really happen when stuff comes from the heart, you know?”
But karma works both ways, and Lil B isn’t afraid to bring down the hammer on those who copy his ideas without respecting where they came from—hence this week’s warning to LeBron and his “Flicka Da Wrist” stirring Cavs.
“I mind my business and keep it real. I don’t like to talk about people… unless they cross me or steal something when we know where it originated from,” he said.
In fact, Lil B devoted a good portion of his UCLA lecture to the topic of ownership and the importance of acknowledgment, whether it’s earning respect for the “cooking dance” he originated or scrapping his way to Internet fame as an independent artist.
“It’s about when you create an idea, you just hope people will be honest and know where it came from,” he said. “But everybody doesn’t. They say you can’t get credit for everything.”
Going into the Finals, it seemed Cleveland had Iman Shumpert to thank for saving them from the Based God’s Curse, prompting if not a full-on blessing, at least a generous pardon for the Eastern Conference champs. That is, until Lil B took another shot at Shumpert’s teammates. “Ima keep it real tho jr smith lebron and Kyrie I’m not to sure about realness over millions,” he tweeted.
Thursday night in Los Angeles he reiterated his Golden State love. “I’m happy with the Warriors. I’m happy with everybody that made it,” Lil B decreed.
As for the Cavs, not everyone’s made their way back into the Based God’s good graces. “Shout out to the Cavaliers,” he said. “Shout out to Iman Shumpert for paying respect and letting them know who originated the sports celebration.”
King James, get thee to church.
