Canadian rapper Drake is learning to manage his legendary sports curse, billionaire 76ers investor Michael Rubin said Thursday, four days after his team lost a decisive NBA playoff game to the Toronto Raptors.
"Drake is known to be cursed. He's probably the last remaining curse in sports. Whatever products he wears ultimately that team is jinxed," Rubin told CNBC.
Drake, who was rooting for Toronto, did not wear a Raptors jersey. Philadelphia lost Sunday's Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals, 92-90.
"So he actually wore Sixers shorts the last game. He was texting pictures of him in the shorts the entire game. So I obviously I have tremendous hatred toward him for that," Rubin said jokingly.
The Drake curse also held in this week's 2019 NBA draft lottery, Rubin said. The New York Knicks, which had a great chance of landing the top draft pick, ended up with the No. 3 spot. (The New Orleans Pelicans got the No. 1 pick.)
Rubin, executive chairman of online sports apparel giant Fanatics, said he and Drake had a "back and forth the entire day that he was going to wear Knicks products."
"I could show you pictures on my phone of Drake in Knicks products," Rubin said on CNBC. "That's how we knew they weren't going to get the first pick — because he's learning to manage his curse."
The Sixers, which got the 24th pick, still benefit from the Knicks losing out, Rubin said. "It's a competitive league."
Rubin appeared on "Squawk Box" to discuss the growth of Fanatics, which was ranked No. 25 on CNBC's 2019 Disruptor 50 list.
WATCH: Why apparel company Fanatics ranked 25 on the Disruptor list
