Since we're one week away from the start of the NBA season, Coolfer looks at basketball players--and a few athletes in other sports--who have made forays into music. Oddly, Sacramento has a strong connection to music: two former Kings and one current King have released albums.

Who has the most game? Shaquille O'Neal--by a mile. Former Sacramento King forward Waymon Tisdale, a talented jazz musician, comes in second. From there, the numbers drop off. Current Kings player Chris Webber ranks third among hoops players, but didn't have the commercial success (or the critical success) of boxer Oscar De La Hoya and Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams. Williams' new smooth jazz record is selling suprisingly well. De La Hoya's album of pop ballads (in English and Spanish) did well but quickly disappeared off the public's radar. The hoops rankings:

- Shaq. His debut sold somewhere around the million mark; subsequent albums sold well and got good reviews, but didn't match the performance of his debut. Shaq held his own as a rapper and probably has the best rapping skills of any athlete to put out an album. Now if he'll just lose to the Kings...
- Former King Wayman Tisdale has sold hundreds of thousands of albums. His 1995 album Power Forward sold very well. Love the pun, Wayman.
- Current King Chris Webber's Too Much Drama didn't sell much. His single "Gangsta Gangsta (How U Do It)" somehow sold more than a few copies.
- Another former Sacramento King, Walt Williams, put out a CD earlier this year. Insight Of A Wizard has legit distribution and has probably sold a few thousand. Surprisingly, the production is pretty decent.
- Boston Celtic Walter McCarty released Moment For Love in January of this year. Check the link for audio samples.
- Kobe Bryant's album was so dismal it was shelved by Columbia, but not before a 12" single for "K.O.B.E." was released and sold a tiny number of units. Tyra Banks sings backup on this song. (Read the lyrics here.) Yes, it's as bad as it looks on paper. Luckily, Coolfer owns three copies of this 12".
- NBA cager Glenn Robinson rapped on Young Twan's album, Titan. Coolfer hasn't heard this one.
- Allen Iverson never sold a single CD. After all the media attention he got for the bigoted and homophobic lyrics in the song "40 Bars," his album was never even released. Thanks to the Internet, though, these songs have been preserved for posterity (go here for steaming audio links). Coolfer's favorite quote comes from (former?) Universal VP of A&R Charles Suitt. "Allen personifies hip-hop,” boasted Suitt. Classic.

And what about athletes in other sports?

- Oscar De La Hoya's 2000 self-titled album sold pretty well and get decent reviews, but it probably didn't help his reputation as a pretty boy.
- Bernie Williams' new album has already put him in the fourth spot. Journey Within has sold well and got good reviews. The World Series is surely helping.
- Pro golfers Peter Jacobson, the late Payne Stewart and Mark Lye recorded a rock/comedy CD under the name Jake Trout and the Flounders. It has parodies of classics--"I Love L.A." became "I Love To Play." Listen to the horrid sound clips at the Amazon.com page. No idea how it sold, but Coolfer would have a hard time believing it did much.
- Former Raiders quarterback Todd Marinovich played in a rock band called Scurvy after he bailed on football. The band may have sold CDs out of the trunk of its van, but from what Coolfer can tell never released a CD through any distribution channels. Pity. I'd love to hear Scurvy.
- And Coolfer couldn't leave out NFL Raps, which I picked up for 25 cents at a Tower Outlet years ago. It matches Ghostface Killah and Andre Rison on "Fast Life." Havoc and Tyrone Wheatly pair up in "No Doubt." "When The Cheering Stops" is a three-way blessing: AZ, Ray Buchannon and Scott Galbraith. Check the lyrics to the song "It's In The Game" by Method Man and Ricky Waters. This is barely worth a quarter, and only because of the comedic value.

[music jobs] Director of Content at Dada Entertainment; New York, NY.