Is the NBA Gang Related? A Complex Investigation
NBA guard J.R. Smith is Tweeting his gang affiliation, so we're looking at other players who've appeared to be repping to decide who's really active.
J.R. Smith reps Bloods, sweat, and tears on his home court kourt.
When a media type reports that an NBA player may be gang affiliated, we typically assume that the reporter snitch is just some jealous old white dude whose diaper is bunching up because he hates seeing a young black man making more money than he'll ever see in his miserable lifetime. Sometimes, though, the journalist has actually seen Gangland on the History Channel and knows what they're talking about. Denver Nuggets guard J.R. Smith (seen above either throwing up a Bloods gang sign, or impersonating a velociraptor) has raised eyebrows recently with his posts on Twitter, a powerful weapon used by gang members to build social networks. Like a true Piru, or someone who missed a couple key days of Sesame Street growing up, Smith has been omitting c's, which stand for the rival Crips gang, and replacing them with k's, which stand for potassium on the periodic table.
So, we're pretty sure that Smith is a straight up knucklehead who's gonna get himself in deep shit with NBA Commissioner David Stern, who long ago gave up whoo-bangin' and doesn't want it anywhere near his league. But what about other players who've been known to throw up hand signals for the homies? Complex reads between the signs to determine who's gang affiliated and who's not...
