NBA players are mourning the death of Grammy-nominated West Coast rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was killed outside his Los Angeles clothing store on Sunday, according to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Police confirmed that three men were shot Sunday, and one of them was killed outside Marathon Clothing, the store owned by Hussle.
Hussle, a noted NBA fan, was a regular at Staples Center, often seen sitting courtside at Lakers and Clippers games. He was also seen attending Texas Tech’s NCAA tournament victory over Gonzaga on Saturday in Anaheim.
LeBron James was among several athletes — including Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, Isaiah Thomas and Tobias Harris — to express their shock and sorrow at the news on social media.
Stephen Curry, who interviewed Hussle, 33, last year as part of his “5 Minutes from Home” series on YouTube, said he had developed a friendship with the rapper and expressed his sympathies to Hussle’s family after the Golden State Warriors‘ home victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.
“I got to know him last year and had a great conversation about who he was as a person, what he stood for, what his message was, how he tried to inspire people, considering where he grew up. And how he turned that into something extremely powerful and represented an entire city,” Curry said. “It’s tough, senseless crimes that don’t need to happen. Especially with a guy that was doing what he was doing, definitely tough. It’s one of those [moments] before the game, you try to just pay your respects the best you can. Send the love down there to his family.”
The Warriors played Hussle’s music before the game, and a number of players danced to it.
The LA Clippers honored Hussle with a video tribute before their game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, after which the team shared a picture of a Clippers jersey with his name on it on social media.
Guard Lou Williams wore a pair of shoes with a message honoring Hussle for a portion of the game.
The Lakers also paid their respects to the L.A. native on social media on Sunday.
Artist. Activist. Angeleno.
L.A. mourns the loss of one of our own, Nipsey Hussle. pic.twitter.com/7DovnRkayn
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 1, 2019
In a tweet, the Los Angeles Police Department said it has no information about a suspect in the shooting.
The Associated Press and ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk contributed to this report.