Mom Responds to Video of Prop Gun-Filled ‘NBA YoungBoy-Themed’ Kid’s Birthday Party: ‘He Wanted a NBA Party and That’s What He Got’

A Louisiana mom said she was just trying to make her son happy after a video of her the kid’s prop gun-filled “NBA YoungBoy-themed” birthday party went viral.

Video shared to X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday shows young children dancing and posing with fake guns and money while the song “No Smoke” by rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again, commonly known as NBA YoungBoy, plays in the background.

A group of men is seen standing behind the boys smiling and laughing at the kids as people behind the camera cheer the children on. 

The video, which has amassed more than 8.8 million views on X alone, has garnered heavy backlash from thousands of users.

“This legit makes me sick,” one user tweeted. Another commented, “We gotta do better than this.”

The boy’s mother, Devine Brooks, took to Instagram to defend the party theme, claiming that it was innocent fun and that the boys wanted to feel like they were in a music video.

“He wanted a NBA party and that’s what he got,” she wrote on her Instagram account, which has since been made private. “My boys are well educated and even going to nationals on his football team! It was all fun and they enjoyed themselves, they thought they was shooting a video.”

Many users noted the explicit lyrics of the song playing, as well as other songs by NBA YoungBoy. The 24-year-old rapper, whose real name is Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, often raps about guns and money.

“The next generation is doomed,” one user commented. Another wrote, “We have to want better for our people. Why do we flex this behavior?”

NBA YoungBoy was arrested in March 2021 after he was accused of possessing a firearm, as reported by Daily Mail. He was later found not guilty. The rapper had been previously arrested in 2020 on drug charges.

Brooks shared that her son’s birthday is Oct. 20 — the same as NBA YoungBoy. But many users still found her defense not good enough.

“The momma useless too. Crazy,” one user commented on X.

According to a study by the Pew Research Center, 60% of all gun-related deaths in children under 18 were homicides. Black children were also five times more likely to be killed by gunfire than white children.