Former NBA champion extends gratitude to Drake

Drake is on tour in the United States promoting his new album. The tour features Lil Wayne, Lil Durk and J. Cole at most stops and is called “It’s All a Blur Tour - Big As the What?”. Drake is hitting up NBA arenas throughout the country on the tour and is giving shoutouts to NBA players both old and new along the way.

On Monday and Tuesday, Drake played two shows at the Paycom Center, home of the OKC Thunder. Before taking the stage, he posted an IG story of him getting ready for the show. He wore a jersey repping former OKC center and NBA champion Kendrick Perkins.

Drake donned Perkins’ throwback McDonald’s All-American jersey. The 2008 NBA champion reshared the story and was honored by the love from the superstar rapper.

“I see the homie @champagnepapi rocking the big fella McDonald’s jersey!!!,” Perkins captioned his post.

Drake shows love to Kendrick Perkins with the jersey.

Perkins also wrote his catch phrase “carry on” while mistakenly welcoming the rapper to Texas. Drake was in fact playing in North of Texas in Oklahoma City. He previously played two shows in San Antonio.

Perkins was a McDonald’s All-American in 2003, and that game was one of the best of all time. LeBron James, Chris Paul and Luol Deng also played in that year’s high school showcase.

Perkins was a first team All American and declared straight to the NBA Draft skipping college and decommitting from Memphis.

He was a five-star prospect out of Ozen High School in Beaumont, Texas. He was the No. 6 rated player in the nation, according to Rivals. He won a state title there and averaged 27.5 points, 16.4 rebounds and 7.8 blocks per game his senior season.

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Drake gives shoutout to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at OKC show

Kendrick Perkins was not the only OKC player to get some love from Drake. The rapper also took some time during his show in Oklahoma City to give Shai Gilgeous-Alexander his flowers.

Both stars are from Toronto, Canada and share a maple connection. They go way back, according to Drake’s words on stage:

“I grew up with my brother. He is the future of the NBA. His name is Shai Gilgeous.

"He plays for y’all. He loves the f**k out of y’all. We both rep the six, but he loves the f**k out y’all. This night was super important for me because this is my brother’s house."

Gilgeous-Alexander was seated front row for the show, while OKC teammate Chet Holmgren was also in attendance, coming out on stage with opener Lil Durk. Gilgeous-Alexander came out on stage to introduce Drake before he began his set.

The rapper's tour will continue with stops in South Florida before his final stops on Long island, Pennsylvania and Newark. The Thunder will retake control of their arena from Drake with a home game against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.