In a different world — one where neither Degrassi nor Lil Wayne had ever existed — the Canadian recording artist known as Drake might still be going by his given name, Aubrey Graham. 

Not even the semi-mononymous Shaq gets to wear a nickname on the back of his NBA jersey, after all, and I'm 99 per cent certain that Drizzy would have dedicated (even more of) his career to basketball, had he not risen to musical superstardom.

Drake is still living out his hoop dreams 😂 pic.twitter.com/epS87YSy23

— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) May 24, 2022

Drake has long been known for his love of sports, and in particular his affinity for basketball; watching, playing, betting on, mentoring, advocating, ambassador...ing? He's the global brand ambassador for the Toronto Raptors, is what I'm saying.

He counts NBA superstars such as LeBron James and Steph Curry among his closest friends, regularly appears courtside all over the league, and dates the hot moms of hot young pro-ball prospects.

The Grammy winner also famously had a regulation-size, OVO-branded basketball court built into his Toronto home.

And it's not all for show, not by a long shot. He seems to spend an awful lot of time on that court and, as various viral videos have proven, Drake can ball.

The latest in a long line of Drake trick shot clips hit the internet this week courtesy of Drizzy's friend Smilez, who shared footage from a pickup game at champagnepapi's place on Instagram.

.@Drake with the alley-oop pass 🏀 pic.twitter.com/mCFp4eD98K

— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) May 24, 2022

In addition to sinking a bunch of three-pointers, Drake also gave an impressive behind-the-back alley-oop to young sports media celebrity Anthony Hamilton Jr.

"Sit tight 'cause there's a lot of buckets following," said Smilez when sharing the videos on his IG Stories feed.

Drake, for his part, has moved on to publicly fangirling over the three-sister rock band HAIM. I wonder if we'll see footage of them dropping by The Embassy for a game of pickup sometime.