How Biggie’s ‘Ready To Die’ helped NBA star Zion Williamson
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How Biggie's 'Ready To Die' helped NBA star Zion Williamson

In a recent interview with HipHopDx, NBA star Zion Williamson let it be known that Biggie Smalls’ debut album helped him through adversity. The 1994 album, I’m Ready To Die, released through Diddy’s Bad Boy Entertainment, was critically acclaimed on its release and produced hits such as ‘Juicy’ and ‘Big Poppa’.

Williamson, who currently plays power forward for the New Orleans Pelicans, told media outlets that The Notorious B.I.G.’s album helped him cope with the issues he had been dealing with over the last few years. Looking noticeably peaky and slightly off-kilter as a result of his heightened stress levels, Williamson, speaking on the grieving process said, “I’ve learned to appreciate this process.” He continued,  “I can never really put it into words with all the adversity and all the cons, but for me, The Notorious B.I.G album, Ready To Die, that album lyrically, how he talked about stress what he was dealing with just feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders and you feel like you standing alone, that album really helped me shift my mindset and just finding true resolve in the game.”

Talking about the past year and the stress he’s been under, the basketball player stated, “I’m 22. I’ve been through a lot in the past year and some changes. Some things you didn’t wish happened, but from that album, you just learn that’s life.” 

In his first season, Zion tore his meniscus and, upon his return after successful physiotherapy, then suffered a fracture in his right foot. After his timeout, Williamson had to undergo surgery and gained more weight atop his already massive frame. Basketball fans began to speculate as to whether or not he would continue in the sport or whether he would begin disputes with his doctors. 

However, the speculation quickly ended when Zion signed a 5-year rookie extension with the New Orleans Pelicans worth $193 million in July earlier this year. Aside from Biggie’s music being on playlists, the late rapper has now got material in the metaverse with a new ‘Sky’s The Limit’ NFT collection, brought to us by Christopher Wallace’s Estate.

The NFT is centred around digital figurines based on the Notorious B.I.G. Those who purchase one of these digital figurines will gain the rights to license audio from the epic 1989 freestyle that a Biggie gave on a street corner in Brooklyn. This audio has never been available to sample or use before. 

Below you can watch Zion Williamson talking on Ready To Die and how it helped him.