On November 25, 2009, Drake released the music video for his breakthrough hit “Forever,” which featured Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Eminem. It is considered one of the greatest collaborations in rap history, featuring unforgettable verses from four of the most commercially successful artists of all time.
They didn’t know that the video had a connection to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Although the song ended up being much more popular than the documentary, the hit was originally filmed as the soundtrack to the movie “More Than A Game.” The documentary focused on LeBron James’ time at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School and the success he and his teammates – dubbed “The Fab Five” – had during their time together.
So while the video featured Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Eminem, it also used footage and images from James’ time as a high school phenomenon. At 3:31 – right when Drake sang the chorus about how he “wanted this shit forever” – a familiar face appeared and interviewed James. It was Gregg Murphy, host of Phillies Nation TV and coverage before and after the game on The Phillies Radio Network.
Murphy was responsible for reporting on the sidelines for CN8 from LeBron’s high school game against Strawberry Mansion at the Palestra on Dec. 22, 2002. James — who played for the Fighting Irish of St. Vincent-St. Mary’s High School in Akron, Ohio — put on a great show in front of a crowd that included Allen Iverson. James scored 28 points and added seven steals and eight rebounds.
After an 85-47 win over Strawberry Mansion, the teenage James was interviewed by Murphy.
“I was on the sidelines interviewing LeBron after the game,” Murphy recalled. “Of course, someone took a picture of it. I didn’t know that at the time.”
It would take nearly seven years before Murphy became aware of the image’s existence in a remarkable way.
Producer Dan Roche came to see Murphy one day in the newsroom of Comcast SportsNet with some news.
“He said, ‘Hey, do you know you’re in a Drake video?’
And I said, “I don’t know… what does that mean? A Drake video?”
And he said, “You know, the singer Drake has released a video for the song Forever.” And he said, “You’re in.”
And indeed, Roche has posted the video on YouTube — a platform that didn’t even exist at the time the photo was taken — and showed Murphy his cameo.
“So he showed it to me and I was… I had no idea,” Murphy admitted. “I thought it was funny.”
Murphy didn’t know the up-and-coming rapper, who would release his debut studio album, “Thank Me Later,” less than a year after the “Forever” video. But Drake had gained a certain level of fame through his participation in the TV show “Degrassi” and had a series of successful mixtape releases online.
Although Murphy had no prior knowledge of Drake before appearing in his video, his children knew.
“I went home and told my teenagers, ‘Hey, I’m in this video, this Drake guy.’ And they freaked out,” Murphy recalls fondly. “They thought it was the coolest thing ever. And they told their friends, ‘My dad is in a Drake video.'”
Drake signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money Records in June 2009 and has since become one of the most successful artists of the streaming era. “Forever” remains the seventh most viewed video on Drake’s YouTube page with 386 million views.
“Well, I’m sure they’re not watching it because of me,” Murphy said jokingly. “But yeah, it’s funny. It’s a weird thing. It was just a brief moment in my career. I had the chance to do a lot of cool things, but interviewing LeBron was cool, especially at the time.”
Does Murphy remember the interview with LeBron that earned him a spot in the music video?
“I remember,” Murphy said, “because I remember thinking, here’s this young man from high school who the whole world is chasing, and he couldn’t have been more friendly and polite, and it was just really nice to be at the game I was covering.”
“And I’ve met him once or twice over the years,” Murphy continued. “He doesn’t remember that, of course. But he always struck me as a guy who kind of had it in him when it came to the media. And I don’t know who told him at the time, ‘You have to do this.’ But he did really well. I remember the interview being really good. So yeah, I always remember it fondly.”
As for the video, Murphy said it’s a running joke in his family when any of the four rappers in the video mention that he’s been with them for a long time. In a successful sports media career, the role in the “Forever” video is the most unlikely accomplishment on Murphy’s resume, but a notable one nonetheless.
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