From 1997-99, Kelly played guard and small forward in the U.S. Basketball League.
I don’t have a problem writing about controversial figures. I’ve done that plenty of times on these pages, writing about people like Tay-K and YNW Melly. But R. Kelly is controversy plus.
He made an early name for himself by recording hits like I Believe I Can Fly, Feeling On Your Booty, Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number, and Trapped In The Closet–a song that is considered to be the first “hip hopera.” But, of course, Mr. Kelly is known for something else–charged with committing serial sexual assaults on women, including underage girls.
Just about everybody knows that, but I suspect fewer folks know that R. Kelly had a good basketball career. In 1997, Kelly signed a contract to play basketball with The Atlantic City Falcons. Along the way, he won three US Basketball League titles.
Kelly’s basketball career continued and, then, some thought made a massive jump to the big time when the Lakers drafted R. Kelly in the second round of the 2013 NBA Draft. Twitter went wild … only for the truth to come out: the Lakers had drafted Duke’s Ryan Kelly–the ‘other’ R. Kelly.
Here’s a 2016 video of R. Kelly playing ball.
But if he’s convicted, the ‘real’ R. Kelly won’t have much time for basketball or music. In addition to being charged with sex crimes, he’s also facing Federal charges for trying to bribe one of his victims.
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