"Pleasantly shocked me": Lil Wayne supporting Skip Bayless' Steph Curry take convinced him of rapper's sports knowledge

Skip Bayless expressed his admiration for rapper Lil Wayne's sports knowledge, which stemmed from a take he shared about Steph Curry. This connection eventually led to a friendship between the two.

Speaking to PEOPLE, Bayless reminisced about a moment 15 years ago when the rapper appeared as a guest on his former ESPN show, First Take. To Bayless's surprise, Lil Wayne asserted that Steph Curry was superior to the No. 1 overall pick, Blake Griffin.

"Right away he caught my ear because in our pre-show meeting, we talked about Steph Curry and Blake Griffin, who were then about to be drafted by the NBA," Bayless said. "He pleasantly shocked me by saying that he thought Steph was better than Blake, something that I had believed and people at ESPN thought I was out of my mind about. I said, 'This man really knows sports.'"

That moment marked the beginning of a friendship that goes beyond just sports, extending into various aspects of life.

"As we began to communicate, his depth of knowledge impressed me in ways very few people ever do," Bayless said. "I don't usually indulge others talking sports because I think I know a lot more than they do, so I don't want to waste my time.”

“But there's no man on earth I would rather talk sports or life with than this man,” Bayless continued. “Even though we come from sort of opposite ends of the earth, we're very much alike in how we see sports and, in many ways, how we see life."

It's remarkable to see the friendship that has built between the 71-year-old sports analyst and the 41-year-old rapper, all because of their mutual love of sports.

Lil Wayne predicts Steph Curry and the Warriors to make the Finals

Lil Wayne has chosen Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors to advance from the Western Conference, setting up a potential showdown with the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Finals.

The rapper went as far as to draw a comparison between Curry and the prime Tom Brady during his time with the New England Patriots.

“When you count Steph out, it’s like how you used to feel when you count Brady out,” Lil Wayne said. "In them Patriots years where you just thought that they just not gonna win and then they'd be in the f***ing Super Bowl.”

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“Like, that's how it be feeling about Steph. Like, every time I'm ready to say, 'Yeah, Steph's starting to get old,' that boy be right there in the Finals,” the rapper added.

After reaching the 2022 NBA Finals, Steph Curry defied the expectations of many fans who counted out Golden State's dynasty. He led the Warriors to the championship by defeating the Boston Celtics in six games, a victory that also earned him his first-ever Finals MVP award.

Curry averaged 29.4 points, 6.3 assists, and 6.1 rebounds in 56 games during the 2022-23 season, earning him his seventh All-Star appearance. Moreover, he has recorded two 40-point games in his first four games of the 2023-24 season.

According to Bet365 odds, the Warriors are ranked sixth in terms of their chances to win the championship at +1200. The Bucks are currently the favorites with odds at +350.