Ice Cube: 'I don't shed any tears' for Donald Sterling

With his film "Straight Outta Compton" opening on Aug. 14, rapper, entrepreneur, director and actor Ice Cube roamed the hallways and studios of ESPN on Thursday. He's never at a loss for words or opinion, so we sat down with Ice Cube for a quick Q&A.

Mike Huang: You're a huge Lakers fan. What was it like to grow up in the shadow of the Forum?

Ice Cube: I just couldn't believe that the Lakers were actually playing that close to my house growing up. I started getting into the Lakers the year they got Magic Johnson, so it was just good times from then on. I remember my brother taking me to a game or two. We couldn't afford a lot of games, but, when we could, we went. The whole atmosphere, having the Showtime Lakers right there, it was good times, man. Real good times.

Huang: How does it feel now with the Lakers being kind of down on their luck?

Ice Cube: It doesn't feel good, but I've seen this before. I've seen this play out, and I've seen the Lakers bounce back. The organization definitely knows how to reinvent and rejuvenate the franchise. I'm expecting that to happen. There was a 12-year drought between championships before, and then we had another drought before Kobe won back to back. So I expect the same thing. A few years of heartache and then we're going to find that right piece that puts us into contention again.

Huang: You've been very outspoken about a lot of topics, especially race relations. Considering what happened these past couple of seasons in the NBA (Donald Sterling, Bruce Levenson), what do you think about what's going on in the NBA between owners and players and how it's being portrayed in the media?

Ice Cube: It's a situation where you hope that a person who owns an NBA team is not harboring those kinds of feelings. It's hard to comprehend someone who makes so much money off black players has those kinds of views. You just hope to catch them, weed them out and keep the league going in a positive direction. Sports have been one of the greatest things for race relations in this country. Any time there's racism somewhere in sports, we should get it out of there because sports is a place where everything's supposed to be fair.

Huang: The Sterling stuff happened right in your backyard. What are your thoughts on that?

Ice Cube: I think he didn't deserve to own the team. I thought everything he said was pretty hurtful, unnecessary and, really, to me, it was just career suicide that he was committing even if he was unaware of it or not. Just saying those feelings out loud, he had to know he was walking on a tightrope. He got what he deserved -- to be ousted -- and now somebody else owns the team. I don't shed any tears because he's going to be all right.

Huang: Let's lighten it up a little bit. You're a big basketball fan. Give me a scouting report of Ice Cube as a basketball player.

Ice Cube: [laughs] As a player, I was pretty good. I think I just needed to work on a couple of things. I think I could've worked on my handles a little more. I was point guard-sized but wanted to shoot all the time. That's just me. I think a few adjustments to my game were in order, and that's why I'm rapping and not trying to play.

Huang: OK, last question, why do basketball players think they can rap?

Ice Cube: Everybody thinks the grass is greener on the other side. If you talk to most artists, they think they can play something, you know, "If I had stayed playing football in high school, if I had been doing basketball..." Everybody's got their fantasies and thinks the grass is greener. It's not. It's not.