When EBC said they were bringing Rucker Park to the beach, they literally brought it to the beach. Sure, the court was inside of an air conditioned tent, but that tent was literally right on the beach. There was sand everywhere. Fun fact: if you show up early and try to play ball barefoot because the guy wiping the court is forcing everybody to keep their sandy shoes off the hardwood, there's a great chance you'll form/bust open a huge blister on your big toe and bleed everywhere. As it turns out, basketball is not meant to be played barefoot.

The moment French Montana walked through the doors was the same moment most people in the crowd stopped caring about the game. It's funny how famous French has become in a such a short amount of time. There was a slow-moving mob of handlers, clingers-on, thirsty females, and even thirstier males forming around the BX rapper from the second he arrived. Didn't even matter that he showed up in the 3rd quarter for a game he was coaching.

BACARDI sat myself and the other media members down at a private bar to give us a tasting of their newest flavors, which we really enjoyed because, hey, free booze. The bartender——showcased BACARDI's portfolio while catering to each of our companies (i.e. "Taking Pop Culture by Storm" as the Complex version of a Dark and Stormy). He also gave us an important tip on making mojitos while we were in the mojito capital of America: don't over-muddle. Mint leaves are sensitive and filled with flavor, so there's no real need to overly crush or blend them into your drink. A few hard presses on the leaves while they're in the glass is all it takes.

Sometimes you're on a press trip with a guy named "Terrence" and the BACARDI representative will yell his name to get his attention, which will then cause the rapper you're interviewing—whose real name is Terrence—to look around confused for a second wondering who was shouting him out. Rappers have governments, too.

One chain? C'mon, man. You're not Tity Boi anymore.

However—one chain or two—the cat knows basketball. 2 Chainz was the coach of the Atlanta team, the eventual champions, and gave an inspirational pre-game speech that rivaled Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday. Given 2 Chainz's college basketball experience the speech shouldn't come as a big surprise, but it was fun to see him get hype in the circle to get his squad going. Okay so maybe 2 Chainz isn't Phil Jackson, Shannon Brown. Doesn't mean you should be staring off into space.

First off: look at that A+ journalism face from yours truly. Almost makes all that Sallie Mae debt worth it. The person I'm interviewing here is EBC CEO & Founder Greg Marius, who, along with speaking about making the South Beach Invitational an annual event, spoke about a children's literacy program the streetball group is starting with a local gym. Complex: New York always has that streetball culture, although recently I've heard a lot of people saying that streetball is dying and it's not the same as it was before. How do you answer those critics and what do you do to stop that if it's true? Greg Marius: I don't disagree. I believe that when we first started this tournament it was nine players deep, All-Stars on each team. How do you change that? You gotta get people back into the love of the game. You gotta find the talent and you gotta start fresh. That's why we have a 10, 12, and 14-year-old division now, we have a high school division, and that's gonna be our future. A lot of cats that have the talent are leaving and they're going to prep school because of their grades or they need an extra year to graduate. We're actually starting a literacy program; this is going to be the first year that we're partnering with Gauchos Gym. I'm going to purchase computers and have college interns going to school for education...they're gonna come and we're going to help kids maintain their grades and help them with their homework. So they can stay not just as 'C' students barely making it to stay on the team, but 'A' and 'B' students who can get an academic or athletic scholarship. That's my goal. Six to eight computers, in Gauchos, [to help] when kids come home from school. If you help a kid from the beginning, wherever he's lacking, if there's someone there to help him and make him enjoy it, he's going to stay focused on his grades. That's all it takes. Just helping a kid enjoy a subject.

Wherever there are celebrities, there are bodyguards. The man in the above picture is French Montana's security, and he is one of the most frightening people I've ever seen. Sure some of the other bodyguards looked like swoll ex-cons with extensive murder experience, but this cat had a silent intimidation thing going on that was way scarier. Held his hands in a very specific location the whole time while strategically eyeballing each person in the crowd. French at one point asked him to hold his drink, and dude held the plastic cup in such a way that he probably could kill you with it.  

Lot's of 3's in South Beach this weekend. FYI one of these pairs of feet belongs to Jadakiss.

Okay that heading is corny AF, but it's true. A major part of this weekend was BACARDI buying VIP sections in several big Miami clubs and letting us run free, and as someone who normally can't afford to have club waitresses double-fisting sparkler-bottles over to my section, the experience was greatly appreciated. Pretty sure everyone else in attendance for the weekend appreciated it, too. From the celebs to the players all the way down to the media: everybody was partying pretty hard.

"Fat boy need a 10 piece!" ...Wait, what does that sign say? Shout out to all the knockoffs out there: Kennedy Fried Chicken,McDowell's, Fresh-N-Fast burger (R.I.P.), etc.

This picture is from the internet and not from this weekend, but from what Pusha T told me, Ye has game. Complex: You ball? Pusha T: Yeah, [we play ball]. When we do the camps for G.O.O.D. Music, that's part of the workout. We start playing ball during the day. Complex: How's Ye's game? Pusha T: He ball, yeah. Ye ball. Definitely.

Complex: One-on-one, whose got it between you and Kanye? Pusha T: Oh I'm gonna win every time. Just because. I'm going hard. Complex: Something tells me Kanye would probably say the same thing. Pusha T: [laughs] Of course he would!

If, like me, you're a fan of Clipse, you're probably familiar with the song "" off Lord Willin'. Which is why I started off my Pusha T interview with a question straight from the song's hook. Complex: Twelve years later, in Virginia, is there now more shit to do than cook? Pusha T: Man, there's a lot less shit to do. I think the culture of Virginia has changed a lot. Twelve years ago it was all streets. Now the whole street culture, the get-money culture has sorta changed a little bit. It's a little disorganized, a little wilder. Seeing a little bit more violence than it was. Virginia is still one of those iffy places, man.  You can get caught up in a few different things.

Complex: About two years ago you had said that you were "depressed" with basketball.  Pusha T: Yes, I am. Complex: ...Because of the musical chairs and "superteam" stuff. LeBron just Benedict Arnold'd his second team in four years, smoothed it over with PR and now everyone loves him for it. What is your thought process on LeBron forming a superteam again? Pusha T: I felt that way two years ago, bro. Looking at it now, this is just the new wave. I can't be the old school guy who just keeps wearing the FILA sweatsuit and the gold rope chain talking about, "Back in our day...." Can't keep doing that. I admire all the players for their play. LeBron's amazing, Durant is my favorite, things like that. But...it's the new way. They not gonna ever let you love a team. The one thing I do like about it, though, is that these guys are really getting their money. I can't knock that at all. Complex: I don't even know if you heard but that new possible KD Under Armour deal... Pusha T: Listen, man. KD is the man, he's THE GOAT for this one. If he pulls that off, HE'S THE GOAT. He's already halfway the GOAT, this would be crazy. PS - Journalism face still going strong. Hairline...not so much.

Some of the asses in this club (and every club in South Beach) were fabrications of modern science. More iffy ass injections than I'd ever seen in my life. Not judging nor hating. Just spitting facts.

You think you're good...you're not. They creep up on you. Walk away.

The actual hardwood was shipped from New York to Miami for the event. So the same court that Nerlens Noel, Shaq, and Cam'ron posed on last week in Harlem was the same court 2 Chainz and the victorious ATL team celebrated on last weekend near Ocean Drive in South Beach.

By my count we heard Bobby Shmurda's "hot" single roughly 400,000 times over the course of three days. Yes, we should be sick of it. Yes, we will be sick of it eventually. But we're not right now. I almost killed myself one morning doing the Shmoney Dance in the hotel shower withalcohol still in my system. It'll get old soon enough, but let's not rush it.