Lack of special treatment upsets rapper Lil Wayne

Published 11:30 pm Saturday, June 2, 2012

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lil Wayne said that after a recent NBA playoffs ticket dispute he felt unwelcome and “unwanted” at the Oklahoma City arena and isn’t planning to return.

The rapper said two Thunder players — Kevin Durant and James Harden — had reached out to offer him tickets to Saturday’s fourth game of the Western Conference Finals.

“That’s not the point, though,” he told The Associated Press in an interview Friday night. “It’s the players stepping up but of course the players aren’t white. I don’t want to be sitting there on behalf of you and I’m sitting next to a (person) that’s like ‘I don’t want this (guy) sitting next to me.’ (Forget) you … I’m in Forbes,” he said, laughing.

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Lil Wayne claimed in a tweet Thursday night that he had been “denied by the team to be in their arena.” The team responded by saying the seats he wanted were already taken.

But the Grammy-winning rapper, appearing at a Macy’s store in Los Angeles to promote his Trukfit clothing line, described a more complicated scenario.

He said he typically procures tickets for such games “from this guy named Mike.” Lil Wayne said Mike had requested special security, parking and entrance for the rapper, but Mike said the team responded that they would only sell the seats for Mike’s personal use.

A team spokesman has said Lil Wayne’s representatives insisted that he sit in the front row, and none of those seats were available. Oklahoma City sold out every home game during the regular season and playoffs.

“It was just a misunderstanding. We were sold out of tickets, I heard, and we didn’t come through,” Durant said. “He knows a few of us on the team and he knows it’s nothing like that. We offered him tickets to tonight but he had to do something. He’s a superstar in his own right, so he can’t just pick up and go to a game.

“He had something to do, but I’m sure if his schedule was free, he would have came tonight. We’re still inviting him to games — maybe not this year. Next year or whatever.”