It’s no secret that rap and the N.B.A. have a long history, from Shaq and the Fu-Schnickens to Iman Shumpert rapping Migos’ street hit “Versace” to Drake and Jay Z sitting courtside with team owners.

And now N.B.A. players are grading one another on a new metric, one that has nothing to do with advanced statistical analysis: taste in rap.

Through music apps like Songza or Pandora, and the ocean of free downloads on mixtape search engines like DatPiff or LiveMixtapes, the search for new, unheralded music has become the league’s fastest-growing pastime.

Perhaps no team has forged a deeper connection with hip-hop than the Portland Trail Blazers, who advanced to the second round when their Game 6 win eliminated the Houston Rockets on Friday.