Ex-NBA Star’s Awesomely Bad YouTube Rap Brings Out the Twitter Haters [VIDEO]

Former NBA star Steve Francis is “used to the finer things” and don’t you forget it. An awesomely bad YouTube rap video took Twitter by storm Wednesday, bringing Francis briefly back into the public consciousness. Predictably however, most of the Twitter commentary was derisive (see gallery below).

An “official” version of the video — called “Finer Things” — was uploaded to YouTube late Tuesday. Hip-hop and basketball fans’ tweets of bemusement and disbelief briefly made Francis’ name trend worldwide on the network Wednesday. Francis was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2000 and a three-time All-Star before flaming out.

Francis may have been unfortunate to release his music in the age of routine Twitter roastings, but he’s just the latest in a long line of NBA stars to put out awesomely bad rap songs. Jason Kidd released “What the Kidd Did” in 1994. Ron Artest released his King of Pop tribute “Michael Michael” in 2009. And Shaquille O’Neal has cut a number of albums, but perhaps most famously dissed Kobe Bryant in a 2008 nightclub freestyle, asking him to “tell me how my ass taste.”

What’s worse — hating the player or hating the game? Let us know in the comments.