Detroit Pistons legend Lindsey Hunter nearly threw fingers with Kanye West over a parking spot years earlier than the rapper grew to become a family title.
The 2-time NBA champion revealed the wild story throughout a latest look on the Crossover Podcats podcast. Hunter stated the near-fight occurred at a Usher live performance on the Palace of Auburn Hills when West was nonetheless opening for the R&B celebrity.
“Me and Kanye nearly acquired right into a combat,” Hunter recalled. “There was a live performance, so it was a Usher live performance, and that is earlier than Kanye blew – he was opening for Usher.”
The drama began when Hunter and his good friend pulled as much as the venue. Palace safety needed to provide the NBA star particular therapy by letting him park in a premium spot.
“So, I and my boy pull to the sector, it was the Palace. So safety, like, ‘Pull your automobile up right here.’ So I’m like, ‘Take the automobile up,’” Hunter defined.
That’s when West began operating his mouth from the background.
“Some dude, I heard within the background, I hear someone yelling, ‘Transfer that s###. Transfer that f###### automobile.’ I didn’t even know who he was at the moment, it was Kanye,” Hunter stated.
The Detroit guard wasn’t having any of West’s perspective. Hunter fired again instantly, able to deal with enterprise.
“So I’m like, ‘We ain’t transferring nothing, come transfer it.’ So by this time, Palace safety runs out to get me. I used to be like who was that dude speaking loopy?” Hunter remembered.
West’s safety crew tried to step in, however Hunter was ready for all of them.
“So his safety comes off all buff. I used to be like, ‘I’m knocking you out and him. I’m knocking each of ya’ll out,’” Hunter stated.
Palace safety needed to bodily restrain the 6’2″ guard earlier than issues acquired ugly.
“So safety grabs me, restrains me, and pulls me into the sector. I’m trying like, ‘Who’s that?’ They was like, ‘Don’t fear about it, Lindsay. We acquired you.’ I’m like, ‘I’m about to scrap this dude,’” Hunter added.
The incident exhibits West’s confrontational habits began lengthy earlier than his latest public meltdowns. Simply final week, the rapper took out a full-page advert in The Wall Road Journal apologizing for years of erratic conduct.
Within the WSJ letter, West blamed his outbursts on bipolar dysfunction and a mind harm from a automobile accident 25 years in the past. He wrote that he “misplaced contact with actuality” and have become “indifferent from my true self.”
“I stated and did issues I deeply remorse. A number of the individuals I really like essentially the most, I handled the worst,” West admitted within the apology.
The rapper defined that his frontal lobe harm wasn’t correctly identified till 2023, resulting in critical psychological well being points.
“In that fractured state, I gravitated towards essentially the most damaging image I might discover, the s#######, and even offered T-shirts bearing it,” West wrote.
Hunter’s story matches the sample West described in his apology. The rapper acknowledged that his “manic” episodes made him really feel “highly effective, sure, unstoppable” whereas treating others poorly. West stated he hit “all-time low a couple of months in the past” and located assist by way of Reddit boards the place individuals shared related bipolar experiences.
“I’ve discovered consolation in Reddit boards of all locations. Completely different individuals converse of being in manic or depressive episodes of an analogous nature. I learn their tales and realized that I used to be not alone,” West wrote.
The rapper now claims he’s following “an efficient regime of treatment, remedy, train, and clear dwelling” to handle his situation. Hunter constructed his repute as a scrappy defender throughout 12 seasons with Detroit.
He averaged 9.0 factors and 1.3 steals per recreation whereas serving to the Pistons win championships in 2004 and 2006.
The 6’2″ guard by no means backed down from larger opponents on the courtroom. His willingness to problem West over a parking dispute exhibits that depth carried over to his private life.
Hunter’s story offers one other instance of how West’s untreated bipolar dysfunction affected his interactions with others lengthy earlier than his public controversies.
