Kyrie Irving appears to be taking his rap career more seriously than ever.

On Monday (Dec. 7), Brooklyn Nets basketball player Kyrie joined fans on Instagram to share a snippet of an unreleased track, in which the point guard honors the late Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, who both died in a helicopter crash in January.

"We're rocking with the ancestors/I'm doing what I'm supposed to do/I'm painting life's canvas, I'm moving like an artist/Similar to my progress/I'm on a team full of martyrs/Paradise is Mamba, throwing peace to Gianna," he raps.

Irving is among many people in the NBA and around the world who were deeply affected by the tragic passing of Kobe and Gianna. Hip-hop was also rocked by the death of the basketball legend and his daughter.

According to sources close to Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson, a senior writer at Heavy, despite Irving bettering his musical prowess, hip-hop remains a hobby for the 28-year-old athlete.

“He’s actually gotten better the more and more he’s been in the studio. But music as a hobby is therapeutic for him,” the Twitter post from Robinson reads/

The new song snippet isn't the first time Kyrie has showed an interest in music. Back in 2018, to help promote his role in the sports-comedy movie Uncle Drew, Irving recorded the song "Ridiculous" featuring LunchMoney Lewis for the film's soundtrack.

The West Orange, N.J.-bred basketball star isn't the first baller to show an interest in hip-hop either. Athletes have been crossing over into the music space since Shaquille O'Neal in the 1990s. Portland Trailblazers star Damian Lillard, who goes by the rap moniker Dame D.O.L.L.A., has dropped a few albums himself and even engaged in a rap beef with Shaquille O’Neal.

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