One of the rap/sports world’s biggest mysteries was solved Monday, thanks to the courageous journalism of ESPN’s Dan Le Batard and Bomani Jones and the truth-telling of Fat Joe.
Since 1997, the world has listened to The Notorious B.I.G.’s “I Got a Story to Tell” and wondered, which six-five “player off the New York Knicks” was Biggie referring to when he described sleeping with a man’s girlfriend and then pretending to rob him so he wouldn’t get caught?
Well Fat Joe, a friend of the late Biggie Smalls, went on ESPN’s Highly Questionable on Monday and spilled the beans: The song is about former Knicks forward Anthony Mason, who died in February 2015.
Start the clip at 2:10:
https://twitter.com/HQonESPN/status/732311338454679552
Fat Joe says it’s a “very strong possibility rumor” that the song was about Mason.
“I could tell you but I don’t want to be disrespectful, but it was about Anthony Mason, rest in peace. … Ant Mason’s my brother, I love Ant Mason, but you’ve gotta also know that rappers, this is entertainment, we stretch the truth, we change things up.”
For Mason’s sake, let’s hope Biggie was playing with the truth a little bit in “I Got a Story to Tell,” because it’s pretty brutal. The lyrics are a bit graphic to post here, but apparently while Mason was off playing the Utah Jazz, Biggie showed his girl quite the time. Then, when Mason returned home ahead of schedule, Biggie and the woman stalled for a minute before inventing a scheme in which Biggie pretended to rob the house. Somehow the rapper ended up getting away without being caught and got a bag full of money as a bonus.
Mason played for the Knicks from 1991-96, which makes sense given the song was released in 1997. The song claims to be about a 6-foot-5 player and Mason was listed a 6-foot-7, but that’s close enough for us to consider this matter closed.
Prior to Fat Joe’s revelation, many people had assumed the song to be about John Starks, who fiercely denied being involved during a Highly Questionable appearance in 2014.
Mason is not around to answer for anything of this, having died of a heart attack at age 48 just over a year ago, and Biggie obviously can’t confirm the story, having been shot and killed in March 1997, so we’ll have to take Fat Joe’s word for it.