The Seattle Seahwaks were recently gifted with a visit from Rapper Ice Cube and NBA Hall of Famer Allen Iverson during a team meeting after a preseason victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
Cube and Iverson were in town for their BIG3 Basketball League playoffs, taking place Sunday afternoon in Seattle’s Key Arena, and attended the latest edition of the team’s ‘Tell The Truth' Monday session, per the invitation of coach Pete Carroll.
Ice cube seized the opportunity to dish a motivational speech in which he encouraged players to focus on their success and turn their backs on the nay-sayers.
“It’s a lot of craziness going on, and when it all comes down to it, it’s about doing the right thing,” Ice Cube began in is brief speech. “I know a lot of people in this world get a lot of energy off haters. But, me I don’t get my energy off haters. I get my energy of believers. I get my energy off people that believe in me—people that know I can do it. The people that’s behind me. The haters…I like to laugh at them. They’re funny to me.”
He also took advantage of the platform to push players to make their own decisions as it relates to protesting the national anthem: a hot-button topic in the National Football League as of late.
TMZ Sports reports that Cube encouraged players to take a stand in what truly matters to them.
“We look at this world we see what’s going on. We see people sitting for the national anthem. The beauty about being in America—you can do what you want to do. That’s the beauty about it,” He explained.
“We all got the freedom to be ourselves and make our own choices. That’s what it’s really all about. It’s preserving those freedoms. People might do things you don’t like, they got the freedom to do it, and it’s cool. As long as people don’t step across the line, it’s fine. Everybody expresses themselves in the best way that they can.”
Watch the full clip of Cube’s words of wisdom below.