Bay Area radio station pulls the plug on Drake for duration of the NBA Finals
Bay Area-based KBLX-FM radio station is hitting Drake where it hurts. Right in the ol’ playlist.
For those of you who haven’t been following the NBA Finals, 1) are you dim? And 2) a bit of a culture war is permeating the playoff series involving the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors. At its center is rapper Drake, Grammy-winning artist, Toronto Raptors self-proclaimed No. 1 fan, and official franchise ambassador. Drake has been making himself at home throughout the playoffs — trolling opposing players, giving Toronto head coach Nick Nurse a quickie shoulder massage during a game, wearing sweatshirts bearing evocative messages, freely roaming the sideline as if he was at home in his rapper cave.
It got to the point that the NBA advised him to tone down his boisterous antics.
According to Sports Illustrated, Barack Obama, who attended Game 2 with NBA commissioner Adam Silver, happened to run into Drake. Said the former president to the commissioner, “Is he behaving himself?”
To no one’s surprise, Drake and a few Warriors players have engaged in good-natured verbal beefing during the Finals. Coach Steve Kerr has called Drake’s behavior “exciting” and “fun.” Klay Thompson instituted his own Drake ban for the Finals. Kevin Durant and Draymond Green made sure to check in with Drake after the Warriors’ victory in Game 2.
Enter KBLX, an urban adult contemporary station licensed in Berkeley, with studios in San Francisco.
Per the station’s operations and programs director Elroy Smith: “(We) could not stand on the sidelines and accept Drake showing no love for our Golden State Warriors. It is my joy to cease and desist all of Drake’s music on KBLX in support a team that is loved by the Bay Area and around the world.
“Oh yes, we are proclaiming a 3-peat.”