Justin Holiday on Drake yelling in his ear: 'I couldn't hear him'

Published Mar. 16, 2016 10:57 p.m. ET

Jovan Buha

Justin Holiday made headlines earlier this week when he was called for a five-second violation while Drake trash-talked in his ear:

According to Holiday, though, the Toronto Raptors' global ambassador and platinum-selling rapper didn't force Holiday into the turnover -- Holiday couldn't even hear him (via CSN Chicago):

“No, he wasn’t bothering me,” Holiday said. “There were thousands of fans in the building yelling at the same time. It’s not like I was going to hear one guy yelling.

"I couldn’t hear him that play. That play I wasn’t worried about him. I came and it took it out again and he said something to me before I got the ball, but that play, no, you can see in my face. If I heard him I would have made a face like (I did).”

It's unlikely Holiday didn't hear Drake -- he was much closer to him than anyone else who was yelling -- but NBA players are used to playing through distractions, so Holiday's explanation has some truth to it.

Despite the embarrassing nature of the turnover, Holiday has benefitted from the attention he's received. The rangy wing is far from a household name, and being associated -- even in a negative way -- with the biggest name in rap has its advantages:

"I guess (it made me famous),” Holiday said. “I don’t really care about the fans. I just want to win games.

“I’ve gotten the links from everyone I’ve known. That was hilarious. But obviously he had nothing to do with the play and what happened.”

His price went up.

Jovan Buha covers the NBA for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter: @jovanbuha.

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