Detroit Pistons legend Lindsey Hunter almost threw hands with Kanye West over a parking spot years before the rapper became a household name.

The two-time NBA champion revealed the wild story during a recent appearance on the Crossover Podcats podcast. Hunter said the near-fight happened at a Usher concert at the Palace of Auburn Hills when West was still opening for the R&B superstar.

“Me and Kanye almost got into a fight,” Hunter recalled. “There was a concert, so it was a Usher concert, and this is before Kanye blew – he was opening for Usher.”

The drama started when Hunter and his friend pulled up to the venue. Palace security wanted to give the NBA star special treatment by letting him park in a premium spot.

“So, I and my boy pull to the arena, it was the Palace. So security, like, ‘Pull your car up here.’ So I’m like, ‘Take the car up,'” Hunter explained.

That’s when West started running his mouth from the background.

“Some dude, I heard in the background, I hear somebody yelling, ‘Move that s###. Move that f###### car.’ I didn’t even know who he was at that time, it was Kanye,” Hunter said.

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The Detroit guard wasn’t having any of West’s attitude. Hunter fired back immediately, ready to handle business.

“So I’m like, ‘We ain’t moving nothing, come move it.’ So by this time, Palace security runs out to get me. I was like who was that dude talking crazy?” Hunter remembered.

West’s security team tried to step in, but Hunter was prepared for all of them.

“So his security comes off all buff. I was like, ‘I’m knocking you out and him. I’m knocking both of ya’ll out,'” Hunter said.

Palace security had to physically restrain the 6’2″ guard before things got ugly.

“So security grabs me, restrains me, and pulls me into the arena. I’m looking like, ‘Who is that?’ They was like, ‘Don’t worry about it, Lindsay. We got you.’ I’m like, ‘I’m about to scrap this dude,'” Hunter added.

The incident shows West’s confrontational behavior started long before his recent public meltdowns. Just last week, the rapper took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal apologizing for years of erratic conduct.

In the WSJ letter, West blamed his outbursts on bipolar disorder and a brain injury from a car accident 25 years ago. He wrote that he “lost touch with reality” and became “detached from my true self.”

“I said and did things I deeply regret. Some of the people I love the most, I treated the worst,” West admitted in the apology.

The rapper explained that his frontal lobe injury wasn’t properly diagnosed until 2023, leading to serious mental health issues.

“In that fractured state, I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the s#######, and even sold T-shirts bearing it,” West wrote.

Hunter’s story fits the pattern West described in his apology. The rapper acknowledged that his “manic” episodes made him feel “powerful, certain, unstoppable” while treating others poorly. West said he hit “rock bottom a few months ago” and found help through Reddit forums where people shared similar bipolar experiences.

“I have found comfort in Reddit forums of all places. Different people speak of being in manic or depressive episodes of a similar nature. I read their stories and realized that I was not alone,” West wrote.

The rapper now claims he’s following “an effective regime of medication, therapy, exercise, and clean living” to manage his condition. Hunter built his reputation as a scrappy defender during 12 seasons with Detroit.

He averaged 9.0 points and 1.3 steals per game while helping the Pistons win championships in 2004 and 2006.

The 6’2″ guard never backed down from bigger opponents on the court. His willingness to challenge West over a parking dispute shows that intensity carried over to his personal life.

Hunter’s story provides another example of how West’s untreated bipolar disorder affected his interactions with others long before his public controversies.