Tag: Master P

Q&A: Baron Davis on the exciting Flight Club Invitational tournament at Crossroads School

Flight Club recently announced a multi-year partnership with Crossroads.

Two-time NBA All-Star guard Baron Davis is the most notable basketball alumnus of Crossroads School For Arts & Sciences in Santa Monica, California.

He was named Gatorade National Player of the Year in 1997 and led his school to win The Beach Ball Classic tournament in South Carolina when he was in high school.

Decades later, the former McDonald’s All-American is returning to the campus as the Crossroads School’s Boys High School Basketball Team hosts its inaugural Flight Club Invitational basketball tournament on October 28 and 29.

Flight Club recently announced a unique, multi-year partnership with Crossroads. The sneaker consignment store will produce exclusive jerseys and products for the team and coaching staff.

Davis will attend the Crossroads Sports Complex in Santa Monica as several nationally ranked teams are set to compete in this one-of-a-kind tournament.

Some of the players who will take the court include Bryce James (son of LeBron James), Alijah Arenas (son of Gilbert Arenas), Tajh Ariza (son of Trevor Ariza) and Mercy Miller (son of Master P). Other top prospects include five-star recruit Jason Crowe Jr. and four-star recruits such as Naas Cunningham and Emmanuel Stephen.

For The Win spoke with Davis to discuss the tournament, parenting two young children and his own sneaker collection.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Master P wants to coach Lakers, bring Shaquille O’Neal as assistant

Master P isn’t giving up on his NBA coaching dreams just yet — the rap legend tells TMZ Sports if Jeanie Buss hires him as the team’s next head coach, he guarantees they’ll win a championship. Remember, P was campaigning to join the New Orleans Pelicans’ staff last season … even hiring an agent in an attempt to secure an interview. The mogul didn’t land the gig, but now that there’s an open spot at the head of the Lakers’ bench… he wants owner, Jeanie Buss, to look his way. ‘Bring me in, I can help get us some W’s.’ P says he has a plan to get the Purple and Gold back on track… and it starts with bringing in Shaquille O’Neal to be one of his assistants.

Mercy Miller, Master P’s son, transfers to Oak Hill

Master P’s son transferred to national powerhouse Oak Hill last week.

Mercy Miller, the son of rapper and successful businessman Percy Miller, who is better known as Master P, made waves in September with his commitment to play for Kelvin Sampson at Houston.

Now, he’s back in the news for another basketball-related decision.

Miller transferred from Minnehaha Academy — the home of Chet Holmgren and Jalen Suggs — to national powerhouse Oak Hill Academy (Va.) last week. Oak Hill is off to a rough start against a national schedule this season, but Miller should help bolster Steve Smith’s rotation as a versatile 6-foot-4 guard.

Miller was averaging over 20 points per game for Minnehaha Academy before deciding to transfer. He made his Oak Hill debut over the weekend at the Spalding Hoophall Classic.

Miller is now part of a loaded Oak Hill rotation that features five-star Duke commit Caleb Foster, five-star Kentucky commit Chris Livingston, four-star LSU commit Devin Ree, three-star Duke commit Christian Reeves and former four-star Pittsburgh pledge Judah Mintz.

Miller is still committed to Houston and that does not figure to change despite his newfound presence at a national powerhouse, which will naturally put more eyeballs on him as his high school career progresses.

“Growing up he was able to go to a lot of the games and see a lot of the greats play there and Coach Sampson he is a man of his word,” Percy Miller told 247Sports after his son’s commitment. “He’s building a great program and by the time Mercy graduates he’ll be a big part of that.”

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Mercy Miller, Master P’s son, commits to Houston

The son of Master P committed to Houston earlier this week.

Mercy Miller, the son of rapper and successful businessman Percy Miller, who is better known as Master P, made the decision to wrap up his recruitment in its infant stages earlier this week.

Miller, a 6-foot-4 guard out of Minnehaha Academy in Minnesota, took an unofficial visit to Houston last week and committed shortly thereafter. Miller’s JL3 Elite travel team is based out of Houston and Miller spent time growing up in the area, both of which played a major role in his decision to commit to Kelvin Sampson’s program.

“Growing up he was able to go to a lot of the games and see a lot of the greats play there and Coach Sampson he is a man of his word,” Percy Miller told 247Sports. “He’s building a great program and by the time Mercy graduates he’ll be a big part of that.”

Miller picked Houston over offers from Hampton and Minnesota.

“Mercy has made his name for himself and that’s what it is about,” Miller said. “I’m a businessman, my son is a basketball player and he is a student-athlete and I’m going to support him. He gets up at five in the morning every day and works to do what he’s got to do.”

RELATED: Hercy Miller, Master P’s son and Tennessee State commit, signs lucrative endorsement deal

Hercy Miller, Master P’s son and Tennessee State commit, signs lucrative endorsement deal

Hercy Miller, Tennessee State basketball commit and the son of rapper Master P, signed a lucrative endorsement deal Friday.

The name, image and likeness era in college athletics is just beginning, but Hercy Miller, a Tennessee State basketball commit and the son of rapper Master P, is not wasting any time cashing in on his brand.

According to his father, Miller has signed a lucrative $2 million sponsorship deal with Web Apps America. Miller is set to take his talents to Tennessee State in the fall after playing alongside Chet Holmgren and Minnehaha Academy this past season.

“It’s incredible,” Master P told TMZ Sports. “This is gonna change the way college athletes want to stay in school.”

Miller’s deal with Web Apps American had been in the works for a while, according to his father. However, the two sides had to hold off until NIL rulings became official to announce the partnership.

Name, image and likeness — NIL — is any compensation a player can derive from their own personal brand. Under the new rules, schools and the NCAA are not allowed to pay players and players are expected to land partnerships on their own without the use of their school’s name, image and likeness.

Miller, a 6-foot-3, 160-pound point guard, received offers from LSU, Missouri, UCLA and USC before picking Tennessee State in March. Miller originally grew up in Southern California, but he and his family moved to Minnesota last fall to be closer to a family member dealing with an illness. Prior to his stint at Minnehaha Academy, Miller attended Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian High School.

“I signed a deal with an American technology company,” Miller said. “Like my dad said, it’s a blessing.”

RELATED: California HS basketball team stripped of state title after tortilla throwing incident

Master P’s son, Hercy Miller, just signed a $2 million NIL deal with a tech company

Whew. Hercy Miller just made a lot of money.

Lots of college athletes around the country have already begun racking up endorsement deals after the NCAA made a temporary policy change on name, image and likeness policies.

Their new NIL rules allowing players to profit off of their own likenesses. Schools won’t be paying the players, but they can finally make money. Many of them are taking advantage of that.

But no one has gotten off to a better start than Tennessee State incoming Freshman Hercy Miller.

Miller — who is also Master P’s son — signed an endorsement deal to become a brand ambassador for the tech company Web Apps America. He’ll rake in a cool $2 million (!!!!!), per Front Office Sports.

WHEW. That’s a whole lot of money, y’all. I’d say the bar has been set, but everyone isn’t Master P’s son.

Either way, this is a good look.

Watch our sneaker unboxing video, Special Delivery 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUq6ZIhSIeg

Master P says LaVar Ball inspired him to create own brand with sons

LaVar Ball’s decision to launch Big Baller Brand served as motivation for many others, like Master P with his Moneyatti brand.

LaVar Ball has been described as many things, ranging from loudmouth to dedicated father to basketball coach. To different people, he is different things and to Master P, the renowned hip hop artist and mogul, Ball is an astute businessmen.

Founder of Big Baller Brand, Ball burst onto the sneaker scene with his outlandishly priced ZO2s, the feature shoe of son Lonzo Ball. Since, he’s battled bad business ratings, delayed shipments and even money laundering allegations.

But despite his struggles and ups and downs, he’s still served as a motivational figure as a business owner. On a podcast appearance with Heavy’s Brandon Robinson, Master P discussed Ball creating his own business and how it motivated him to do the same.

“I definitely think that he was ahead of his time. But, I feel like people are going to dislike you when you’re different and when you speak out. And he just has one of those type personalities but I feel like now what he’s done with the Roc (RocNation) and hooking up with Jay-Z and their team, and I think he sees the bigger picture, and I think him and his family are turning something around because they are very talented…But I think now, he got the right people around him. I think he didn’t have the right people around him at first so, I’m definitely praying for them, he has a talented family.

I mean, he motivated me to do what I’m doing with my boys – I got two boys; one in the eighth (grade) and one in the 11th (grade) and I’m like, we started out on the shoe brand, that’s where the Moneyatti comes from it was a fashion brand; I’m like, ‘No. This is going to take over basketball while you guys are still in high school so the rest of the world can grow up with you.’ So, we’re still in that technology part and what I learned from the Ball family is don’t just put any shoe out. And we’re not even playing in our shoes yet. They wear ‘em everyday to walk around in, but the technology hasn’t been done yet. We’re still working on it for that basketball shoe to make sure that those shoes feel good on your feet and you’re able to play and you’re able to do what you need to do on the court; because you know, you gotta have the right shoes on to play basketball… or you’re not going to want to play because your feet are hurting or whatever.”

While it’s not something the Ball family likely wanted, they will serve as a test case of what not to do. The note about Master P and his sons not wearing the shoes in-game yet goes back to Lonzo’s revelation that the original Big Baller Brand shoes were falling apart in his first games.

According to the brand’s website, Moneyatti was started in 2018. Originally starting as a fashion brand, the company now sells shoes as well as of 2020.

It’s a much slower progression than Ball’s all-in approach with Big Baller Brand. And, not surprisingly, the shoes do not come in at the exorbitant prices as Big Baller Brand, though they do cost upwards of $250.

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No word yet if J. Cole will accept the …

No word yet if J. Cole will accept the invitation, which was hatched when Pistons senior vice president of marketing Alicia Jeffreys noticed the item (via TMZ) that hip-hop OG Master P, who suited up for the Toronto Raptors during 1999 preseason, is taking J. Cole seriously. What started as a simple marketing attempt paid off with social media buzz and a mention on ESPN’s daily NBA program, “The Jump.”

Master P says he earned an NBA contract …

Master P says he earned an NBA contract with 2 different teams in the ’90s — after he was already a famous rap mogul — and he knows what it takes to get to the top level. P — whose music and hoops careers are documented in BET’s “No Limit Chronicles” — tells TMZ Sports he had a lengthy conversation with J. Cole about his hoop dreams … and says he’s convinced the rapper is dead serious. “When I talked to J. Cole, he was like ‘You know, big dog you did it. What do you think I would have to do to make it happen?’”