Black entertainers and celebrities have long been an integral part of the spectacle that is the NBA, giving the league a further intimate connection with fans.
That is especially true for the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, where “Celebrity Row” is filled throughout the year with the biggest names in entertainment and business.
For some of these potential “VIP” guests, however, Madison Square Garden is unlikely to welcome them with any special treatment. Those guests are labeled as “high risk” in a database maintained by security staff, and that list includes mostly Black rappers like: DaBaby, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Freddie Gibbs and Lil Jon, according to a report from WIRED.
Roughly 400 celebrities have a risk score in the “talent database,” which features over 39,000 entries. Exactly how someone ends up on the list seems to vary, according to the Wired report.
Criticizing the Knicks or owner James Dolan in public or on social media is considered one way to end up on the Madison Square Garden radar.
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DaBaby is perhaps the most famous active rapper with a high-risk label. The North Carolina native regularly sits front row at Charlotte Hornets games.
When the Knicks visited Charlotte to play the Hornets in late March, the rapper was seen taunting Knicks fans in the stands and using his belt to hit Knicks jerseys.
The database and risk score information were released as part of a document dump last month from ShinyHunters, a criminal collective of hackers.
Some surprising names were given a risk score on the list, including rapper Fat Joe. The 55-year-old Bronx artist was a fixture on the front row at every Knicks game during the team’s run to the NBA Finals this past season, including flying on Dolan’s private plane to the team’s road games.
Still, that did not stop Fat Joe from being labeled “medium risk” in the database. His personal relationship with fellow New York artist and podcast co-host Jadakiss, who had criticized Dolan in the past, is a possible reason for Fat Joe’s risk score, according to Wired; Jadakiss also has a medium risk score.
A Boogie, despite his high risk label, was seen partying on one of the Knicks team buses during the team’s championship parade last month. Rappers Ice Spice (low risk) and Lil Tjay, who is flat out “banned” from Madison Square Garden, were also given risk scores in the database.
“Shoutout to Mr. Dolan. Greatest team owner in the game,” Fat Joe told the New York Daily News in June. “Very misunderstood. They villainize Mr. Dolan almost like a Bruce Wayne, like Batman in Gotham City because he’s an elite. But this man: All these watch parties. That man’s taking care of us.”
Maybe so, but if someone like Fat Joe cannot avoid the MSG watch list after being in close proximity to the Madison Square Garden boss all year, then who can?
And when Black rappers seem to be the most frequent recipients of the “high risk” label, that just leaves more questions about what exactly the criteria is to end up in that category.
