[Chorus]
They're playing basketball
We love that basketball
They're playing basketball
We love that basketball

[Verse 1]
(Now rapping basketball -- Number 1, Kurtis Blow)
Basketball is my favorite sport
I like the way they dribble up and down the court
Just like I'm the king on the microphone
So is Dr. J and Moses Malone
I like slam dunks, take me to the hoop
My favorite play is the alley-oop
I like the pick-and-roll, I like the give-and-go
'Cause it's basketball, uh, Mister Kurtis Blow

[Chorus]
They're playing basketball
We love that basketball
They're playing basketball
We love that basketball

[Verse 2]
I used to go to dinner, then take the girl
To see Tiny play against Earl The Pearl
And Wilt, Big O, and Jerry West
Play basketball at it's very best
Basketball has always been my thing
I like Magic, Bird, and Bernard King
And number 33, my man Kareem
Is the center on my starting team
(To the hoop, y'all, watch out, watch out
In yo' face, now here comes the rest)

[Verse 3]
Clyde, Rick Barry, and Pistol Pete
Now these players could never be beat
Isiah, and Iceman too
Just give 'em the ball, and then you chalk up two
Dantley and Wilkins are on the scene
And Ralph Sampson is really mean
Bill Russell didn't take no junk
And Darryl Dawkins got a monster dunk

[Verse 4]
Tell me, were you in the joint
The night Wilt scored 100 points?
Or when Celtics won titles back-to-back
And didn't give nobody no kind of slack?
Or when Dr. J shook the whole damn team
With moves that came right out of a dream?
Or when Willis Reed stood so tall
Playing D with desire? It's basketball!

[Chorus]
They're playing basketball
We love that basketball
They're playing basketball
We love that basketball
[Verse 5]
I get the ball and then I go and play
Like a superstar in the NBA
The forwards, the centers, and all the guards
The ones you see on the bubblegum cards
Me and homeboy would go one-on-one
'Cause playing the game is a lot of fun
Sit by the TV and watch 'em all
'Cause Kurtis Blow is rapping basketball