Rumors

Master P is jumpin' into his new gig as head honcho for the University of New Orleans' basketball program ... and the rap legend may have a secret weapon when it comes to landing top talent! Ellen DeGeneres! Yes, you read that right. TMZ Sports caught up with P in Los Angeles this week and we asked him whether he was concerned he wouldn't be able to lure hoopers to NOLA. "We had a lot of great alumni come from [UNO] like Ellen DeGeneres," Miller said.

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FYI, Stokes, the top player in the class of 2026, plays for Notre Dame HS in SoCal. P's hoops star son, Mercy, also played at ND. Alabama, Arizona State, Auburn, Kansas, and others have also offered scholarships. "Look at Stephen Curry (Davidson), look at Damian Lillard (Weber State), you wanna go somewhere you can play, and people are gonna see you, the NBA is gonna find you, and New Orleans is a great place, it's a great city." "We got a great alumni, we got a coach, and so you know what, sky's the limit for us."

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Q. If you could put together a starting five of entertainers on your basketball team, who would you have? Kevin Durant: You have to go with Master P because he actually played in the NBA, he played preseason but it was an NBA game. I go Master P, Chris Brown for sure, he's just athletic-free, right? He has this indicator for good athletes, when they walking on their toes… This is an underrated pick: Rowdy Rebel. Dave East for sure, he’s 6-6… And I have to go Cole, J Cole, okay? He actually worked out, played in the league.

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Master P isn't giving up on his NBA coaching dreams just yet -- the rap legend tells TMZ Sports if Jeanie Buss hires him as the team's next head coach, he guarantees they'll win a championship. Remember, P was campaigning to join the New Orleans Pelicans' staff last season ... even hiring an agent in an attempt to secure an interview. The mogul didn't land the gig, but now that there's an open spot at the head of the Lakers' bench... he wants owner, Jeanie Buss, to look his way. 'Bring me in, I can help get us some W's.' P says he has a plan to get the Purple and Gold back on track... and it starts with bringing in Shaquille O'Neal to be one of his assistants.

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"They need some alpha males over there," P said. "Cant get nothing bigger than me. If you want to win, bring me in." "I'll bring some hell of assistant coaches with me. Shaq, John Lucas. I don't know if Shaq wants to do that, but if he do, we can take over. I can't see another team like that."

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Master P wasn't kidding when he said he wanted to coach the Pelicans ... telling TMZ Sports he's signed with one of the biggest agencies in sports to help him get the job!!! Remember, the rap legend told us earlier this week about his desires to lead his hometown team ... saying he'd be the guy to bring in wins and keep young superstar Zion Williamson happy.

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"Right now, I just hired a sports agent," P says. "So, you know, to be an NBA coach, you have to have a sports agent." But, it's not just any sports agent -- P says he's teaming up with Roc Nation Sports' Raymond Brothers ... a fellow Louisiana guy who's repped players from the Ball Bros. to Caron Butler to Zach Randolph.

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As for his coaching staff?!? He's already got a guy lined up. "I talked to John Lucas, he's willing to support me and come with me on this journey. So, I will have John Lucas that knows the X's and O's on the staff with me to make this happen. So, I got all the pieces to the puzzle." "I think this will be history!!!"

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Highly successful rapper, actor, businessman and one-time NBA hopeful Master P has had his eyes on the Association for a long time. So when Stan Van Gundy was recently canned by the Pelicans, Master P (real name Percy Miller) said "pass me the application." Speaking in a video released by TMZ, Miller says he wants the New Orleans coaching gig, saying it's time for the NBA to embrace change among its coaching ranks:

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And if Miller is hired? "We'll win," Miller said. "We'll win and Zion will be happy. … I feel like motivating the players, understanding them, that's the most important thing."

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Eric Woodyard: Percy "Master P" Miller confirms to ESPN that he's in negotiations to acquire Reebok with ex-NBA guard Baron Davis. "These companies have been benefiting off us, this could be history for this company going Black-owned," Miller tells ESPN.

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No word yet if J. Cole will accept the invitation, which was hatched when Pistons senior vice president of marketing Alicia Jeffreys noticed the item (via TMZ) that hip-hop OG Master P, who suited up for the Toronto Raptors during 1999 preseason, is taking J. Cole seriously. What started as a simple marketing attempt paid off with social media buzz and a mention on ESPN’s daily NBA program, “The Jump.”

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Master P says he earned an NBA contract with 2 different teams in the '90s -- after he was already a famous rap mogul -- and he knows what it takes to get to the top level. P -- whose music and hoops careers are documented in BET's "No Limit Chronicles" -- tells TMZ Sports he had a lengthy conversation with J. Cole about his hoop dreams ... and says he's convinced the rapper is dead serious. "When I talked to J. Cole, he was like 'You know, big dog you did it. What do you think I would have to do to make it happen?'"

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"I said to get one of these NBA jerseys, it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be a lot of hate, it's gonna be a lot of people not believing in you but you know J. Cole -- he got the right size, he in the gym!" "But, what I told him ... this a different time we're in. They're going to pick you apart! You're gonna have to be able to hit every shot and if you don't hit every shot, they -- you know in the NBA, they don't hit every shot but they believe in them. So, you're gonna have to go somewhere where the team really believe in you and the players believe in you." P says Cole won't get a pass just because he's famous -- in fact, he'll have to work even harder than everyone else to prove he's for real.

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