Earlier this month, the New York State Police took down two large heroin distribution networks in Rochester and Buffalo as part of what they’re calling Operation Crazy Train. Through wiretaps, the police discovered many of the drug dealers were speaking in code, including one recording where a request for 31 grams of cocaine was referred to as Reggie Miller.
The use of athletes and their jersey numbers as drug slang is nothing new. You may remember Young Jeezy‘s “24-23,” in which he rapped, “I used to pay Kobe, now I pay LeBron.”
This was followed up by a response from Jay-Z on “Empire State of Mind” with the rebuttal rap, “If Jeezy’s paying LeBron, I’m paying Dwyane Wade.”
These are all uses of the player’s jersey numbers to refer to how many thousands of dollars they’re paying for a kilo of cocaine. I should probably mention at this point I learned all of this from Rap Genius, and not any real life experiences.
Miller is a an interesting choice given all the nightmares he gave Knicks fans during his playing career. Other players who have worn the number 31 and would sound fascinating as drug slang include: Cole Aldrich, Marty Conlon, Festus Ezeli, Darvin Ham and Xavier McDaniel.
We have not confirmed if 31 grams of Reggie Miller results in delirious thoughts like this one:
Reggie Miller just implied that the Spurs might lose this series if Belinelli doesn’t pick up his game. They…seem okay, Reg.
— Brian Phillips (@runofplay) May 22, 2014
(H/T @seth_rosenthal)
What do you think?
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