If Eminem played basketball: shooting guard, rated 79

Eminem as a basketball player: scouting report

Eminem lands at shooting guard because his whole career has been about precision under pressure. He came up in Detroit battling other rappers at open mics, where you had seconds to answer and no second take. That is a shooter's mentality. His basketball IQ is the top mark on his card and his shooting is right behind it, so he does not just make shots, he picks the right ones, reading closeouts the way he reads a beat and finding the pocket a half second before the defense does.

Think of his game as footwork and timing. Lose Yourself became the first rap song to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the whole track is about seizing one moment, which is a fair description of a guard who lives for the late clock possession. His playmaking is better than you might expect from a scorer, good enough that he can bring the ball up when the point guard sits, and he gives up only a little at that spot. His defense is respectable; he knows where to be even when he cannot outrun his man.

Athleticism is the clear weakness. He will not win foot races or finish over shot blockers, so he needs teammates who handle the running. Put him next to an athletic point guard who pushes the pace and a rim protector who covers for him on drives, then let him work off screens and curls. He can play some small forward in a pinch, though that costs more than the move to point guard. Draft him in the early middle rounds as the scorer who closes games, and pair him with a playmaker who knows to find him when it counts.

Plays like A cerebral scorer with a quick trigger and no wasted motion

Put Eminem in your lineup

8 rolls, a starting five and a bench, 82 games. Can you go 82-0? Free, no account.