Drake hasn't had the best history when it comes to playing basketball, but his now infamous airballs didn't keep him from becoming the second non-player (joining University of Kentucky coach John Calipari) to grace the cover of SLAM Magazine. The Toronto MC, dressed to the T in a suit, is on the cover of the playoff preview issue alongside Toronto Raptors All-Star players Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. "Another very important moment in my life to be on the cover of one of my favorite magazines of all time," wrote the superstar rapper on Instagram.

Somewhat surprisingly, SLAM has never had a rapper on the cover, but with Drizzy having a role with the Raptors organization and the team on the verge of its first 50-win season in franchise history, the timing is perfect.

"And why this cover? Why now? If it was as simple as SLAM being the 'hip-hop basketball magazine,' a description bestowed on us for years by outsiders (if not us), we would have put a rapper on the cover years ago," wrote SLAM Editor-in-Chief Ben Osborne. "It had to be the right rapper, which Drake, with his millions of fans, upcoming album and official role as the Raptors Global Ambassador, is. And it had to be the right players, which Kyle and DeMar, fresh off their All-Star spots and still hungry for their first SLAM cover, certainly are. And the right timing. With the upstart Raptors poised to go on the franchise’s deepest Playoff run ever, our Playoff Issue certainly fit that bill."

The cover is reminiscent of XXL's 2005 cover that featured Jay Z, Kanye West, Foxy Brown and LeBron James.

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