Hosted by AND1 as they continue pushing the envelope of streetball, the Open Run Tour was jam-packed with high-flying dunks and whiplash-inducing crossovers. Beyond the classic five-on-five matchups, the event featured a dunk contest, electric one-on-one matchups, shootarounds and a women’s three-on-three game. By bringing back some OG mixtape legends as judges, the Open Run built an atmosphere and energy that starkly contrasts that of the League; it’s physical, expressive, and most importantly, requires a completely different mindset.

“It’s a physical thing, but I think it’s also a mental thing. I think with streetball, as well as the NBA, you have to have a lot of mental toughness, you know?” says AND1 Brand Director Dexter Gordon. “It’s no blood, no foul. It toughens you up, and that’s the whole thing. … You’re gonna get knocked down, you’re gonna have the fans talking trash shit. … You get bumped around, [but] you know what, you learn a lot.”

Dating back to the days of Julius Erving and Wilt Chamberlain playing at Rucker Park, New York City has been the Mecca of streetball. The parks are where hip-hop meets basketball, where people come together through the power of sport. And though most will immediately think of Rucker Park when they hear the word “streetball,” it’s Coney Island that holds a special place in the hearts of many, including AND1’s. “It’s just good to get back out in the community. The first [NBA Ambassador] we ever signed, Stephon Marbury, was born and raised in Coney Island,” Gordon says. While Marbury and the history of his inaugural AND1 signature sneaker were felt from afar, another Coney Island native and longtime member of the AND1 family, Lance Stephenson, pulled up to the runs.

And in the decades since its humble origins in the parks of New York, streetball has forever permeated itself into basketball culture. Not only for what ensued on the court—with Shane “The Dribbling Machine” Woney, Leaky Roof, Whit3 Iverson, The Pharmacist, Skip 2 My Lou, Aaron “AO” Owens, Duke Tango and Hot Sauce selling tens of thousands of mixtapes, racking up millions of views on YouTube and leaving a mark on every streetball event they attend, including this year’s Open Run at Coney Island—but off the court, as well. Whether that’s the two headbands, the high socks or the big baggy shorts, those fashion sensibilities had ’00s hip-hop and NBA circles routinely rocking the infamous AND1 aesthetic.

Nevertheless, a lot can change in over a decade, and it’s no understatement to say the basketball landscape has radically shifted in a post-Mixtape Tour world. Dexter Gordon encapsulates this sentiment, saying, “We really kind of started the mixtape, but now look, every kid has a mixtape.” And when everyone’s playing catch-up, you have to stay one step ahead.

But Gordon isn’t too concerned with acclimating to the age of social media; quite the opposite. “As big as AND1 was in the ’90s and early 2000s, think about this: there was no social media. But we still reached other countries with the Mixtape Tour and the VHS mixtapes, and then they went to the DVDs, but now everything is online,” Gordon says. “So I think social media is a great tool, you know?”

Looking forward, AND1 is undergoing a balancing act of sorts, introducing streetball to a new generation of fans while preserving its decorated roots. “We’ll never stop celebrating our past, our legacy, our culture. … [But] moving forward, we kind of have to meet the younger kids where they are. So, of course, some things have to change, [and] you have to adapt to what’s going on,” Gordon says. And that starts with finding new talent to represent the culture, with current Globetrotter and former national champion Alexis Morris—AND1’s first female athlete—being one of their key additions.

This isn’t just basketball; it’s about creating a community and giving out opportunities. And nothing captures that better than streetball.

When asked about the impact the Open Run holds off-the-court, Dexter Gordon had many things come to mind—whether that’s the gratitude people expressed towards the OG Mixtape Legends or young NBA players recounting memories of watching Hot Sauce. But one stood above the rest: “We were going to the communities and, you know, for that day and that time of that event, man, there was no violence. You had gang members, guys that had beef with each other that would come together in this park [and play ball].”

Portraits by Evan Bernstein.

The post AND1 Celebrates Decades of History With The Return of The Open Run in Coney Island appeared first on SLAM.

Through all the valleys and peaks, Jack Ryan is just a kid from Brooklyn that’s never stopped playing the game, even though he’s 59 years old now. And the movie that’s coming out on October 30, Blackjack: The Jackie Ryan Story, shares a look at what he’s gone through, on and off the court.

“With the movie, it’s about finding your purpose in life,” Ryan tells SLAM. “Redemption through failure. Becoming a leader.”

Without giving too much away, Ryan details how the new movie chronicles the summer in his life that he had a tryout with the New Jersey Nets. He was a neck-breaking, shit-talking, hell-raising destroyer with the ball in his hands. His jumper was laser-made, able to scope out a swish from 30-plus feet out. His handles were AND1-like, but 15 or so years before that famous tour got going. He would embarrass his opponents, merging deadeye accuracy with ingenious yo-yo dribble moves. And he was the little white boy that could fly. He started dunking when he was just 14. 

“In high school, we played Boys High and won the city championship,” the former John Jay HS graduate remembers. “I’m the only white guy in the gym. The coach is downstairs and he told me no more dunking because I would get technical fouls all the time. The place is packed. I’m the only white boy. Steam is coming out of my ears. I’m looking around, like, ‘Oh shit, I’m going to turn this shit up.’ I just started dunking the shit outta the basketball. There was a guy on the mic. Not every high school had a guy on the mic. There was a guy on the mic at Boys High that was yelling: ‘JackJack, please stay off the rims!’ Nobody else called me JackJack in my life.”

They mostly call him Blackjack and they know him for dominating the five boroughs for the last handful of decades, riding all around the city on his bike with a ball tucked by his side. He was the first white Harlem Wizard, he’s set three Guinness Records, he led the West 4th Street league in scoring at 50 years old and he’s performed all over the world as the Hoop Wizard, alongside his daughter, Morgan, for the last 16 years, entertaining kids with a ridiculous series of tricks. 

“We’ve performed at so many NBA and college arenas,” he beams about his daughter. “She did her first halftime show when she was one. She waddled out, I taught her to squeeze the pen, I spun the ball off the pen. The place went crazy.

“The Mecca,” he continues about his favorite performance moment with Morgan. “Madison Square Garden. For the Knicks. Standing ovation. In the all the halftime shows that we did, she never jumped up into my arms. The place erupted and she just flew right into my arms and we walked off the floor. I had a fist up in the air and she had number one up in the air. That’s the greatest fucking picture. That was awesome. Just so happy, so proud.”

Those are the highs. 

The movie shows the lows. 

Before Jack got it all together he was falling apart. He was drinking a ton and being abusive to women, while also not taking advantage of the college scholarships he was able to earn. He stays honest and says that it was difficult for him to watch the movie because of how well Greg Finley played him. 

“I called the guy Danny [Abeckaser] that did the movie,” Jack says. “I said, ‘I don’t want to watch this. I can’t believe everybody’s going to see this.’ He’s like, ‘Jackie, you’ve got to watch the movie. You changed your life.’ Now, all the scenes that are in there, they didn’t happen. But was I that type of person? Absolutely. I was a fucking cocky, asshole jerk. Self destructive, selfish, wanted to do it my way, wouldn’t listen to anybody, couldn’t listen to authority. Girls and drinking and not giving a shit about anything. It was tough to watch, man. I was a dick.”

His family has already seen an advanced version and his brother, Randy, mentioned that the movie doesn’t show everything he does for the youth these days and how many people he makes smile just by knocking down jumpers and spinning the ball on his thumb. But he’s grateful for the new flick and for the people that helped to bring his story to the big screen. 

“Everybody was lovely,” he says. “The guy that played me, Greg, he invited me to his wedding. It was supposed to be last June but because of COVID it’s going to be next June. I talk to him all the time. David Arquette, he plays my father in the movie, he texted me the other day because he saw something cool with an old white guy beating up on the kids that he coached. He hit some shot. He was thinking about me and he sent me that. And Danny, the guy that did the movie, I’ve got to thank that guy. I’ve got a movie on my life. How many people can say that?

“What I really want to do with this movie is to be able to do speaking engagements,” he continues. “I’ve done a couple. Having the movie is going to help me even more to inspire people and help them find their purpose in life and become a leader.”

Triumph.

Follow Jack on Instagram at @blackjackryan21.

The post NY Basketball Legend Jack Ryan Talks About His New Movie appeared first on SLAM.

The train blazed by stops and neighborhoods he didn’t even know existed. Leon was on his way to a new world, a foreign New York borough called Queens, far away from his Coney Island home.

Leon was 12 years old and by himself—well, except for the flip phone he held tight in his nervous hands. The phone had directions from a coach he met through a Stephon Marbury street tournament. Directions to an outdoor court he had never shot on, to a coach he had never met, to a team he had never heard of, to fans he had never seen. He was aware of all these uncertainties when he stepped on the subway. Just as long as it wasn’t in the projects, Leon thought. That was his only requirement. 

When Leon got off the subway after an hour and a half ride, he followed the note. That’s when he saw the one thing he wanted to avoid, a cluster of dull brown high rises towering over him. He wasn’t just in the projects, he was in the Queensbridge Houses, considered the largest public housing complex in the Western Hemisphere. And oh boy, if his father—his strict, protecting father—knew he was headed to Queensbridge, there was no chance Leon would have been allowed on the train. What was Nick Leon doing in the Queensbridge Houses?

He was there to play basketball, he reminded himself. He was there “to network.” He was there to “put on a show and make a name for myself.” Leon couldn’t do that if he was scared. With rows of fans watching, one false step and the crowd would be howling at his expense. He couldn’t show any sign of nerves or he would never be allowed back on the Queensbridge courts again.

And so he kept walking, making his way to the court, having to ask the scorer’s table for the coach who wanted his services, the services of a point guard. A point guard who could really hoop, a point guard who had already done his thing on the New York City streetball courts—that’s who the coach wanted and that’s why Nick Leon was in Queens. 

The thing is, Leon wasn’t a point guard just yet—that transition happened during his Hall of Fame career at St. Peter’s University. Instead, he did what he did best: score. He nailed three after three with that clean righty stroke. He attacked the other team’s best player. By halftime, the coach knew, the other team knew, the crowd knew: this little Puerto Rican kid could ball. Leon’s performance woke up the fans. They couldn’t take their eyes off the shooter killing it in their projects. That’s when the jeers started.

“You don’t belong here. Where are you from? Go back to where you’re from,” Leon remembers hearing from the crowd. 

He told the fans he didn’t want any problems, he was just there to play ball, to entertain. By the end of the game, Leon finished with 40 points, he remembers, and the fans didn’t have any choice but to watch in admiration. Would Leon, the coach wanted to know, play some more games for his team in the future? 

“And that’s how you get around in New York City,” Leon says. “Because everyone knows everyone. The basketball world is very small in New York City. […] So for the most part [that game at Queensbridge] was when my name started getting out there. Everyone started noticing me, knowing who I am. And I just remember I got so much love after the game that it gave me the confidence to go anywhere in New York City to play in any tournament.”

None of the Queensbridge fans knew of Leon’s past or present. They didn’t know that his mom was gone in Florida and communicated infrequently with her son. They didn’t know that he dreaded going home to his father, whose old school method of discipline could lead to verbal and physical altercations between the two. They didn’t know the mountain of responsibilities that waited for him, with a family of seven other brothers and sisters. They didn’t know that he had secrets he was hiding from his family, his friends, and everyone close to him. But Leon probably wasn’t thinking about those things either. And that’s why he was playing basketball—street basketball. It took him to another place. Fans chanted his name as he fired away from two, three, four steps beyond the three-point line.

“[Basketball] has given me hope, it has given me life,” he repeats over and over again.

Now he’s a 20-year vet. A true New York City hooper who, this summer, played in six leagues and three tournaments. A shooter who once had 88 points and 22 threes in an indoor basketball league. 

“He’s running the city now,” one of his streetball coaches, Andre “Show” Riviera, says. “He’s one of the top guards in New York City. […] When they see him now, [other teams] are like, ‘We’re in for a dog fight.’”

—

On this cloudless Thursday afternoon in early July, Leon has driven crosstown through the depths of New York City traffic for his summer basketball game on West 4th Street.

New York City is famous for its outdoor streetball leagues, attracting college players, overseas players and G-League players from around the country. Even NBA players, including Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant, have made a pit stop on the world’s most famous blacktops. That’s because if a player wants to earn the respect of New York basketball fans, regardless of their level, they have to show off their skills in the tight, physical, mean corridors of Dyckman, Rucker, Gersh or West 4th. These battles go on almost every night, all summer long, until a team limps out of the competition as champion.

Each court has its own identity. At Dyckman, for example, hundreds of fans stand shoulder to shoulder in the bleachers for the summer league games on a nightly basis. Someone gets their ankles broken at Dyckman? Fans are running on the court and banging on the bleachers. Camera crews are zooming in on the defeated player.

The Downtown Manhattan West 4th crowds are more subdued than at Dyckman. Still, it is one of the city’s most famous streetball courts. With the subway stop right next to the court, passerbyers stand outside of the gate to catch the day’s action. “The Cage,” as it is called, is small, without a corner three-point line, making the perimeter fence the out of bounds line. “It’s a gladiator game on a small court,” says Doc Velasquez, a sponsor for high school teams at the West 4th. “Guys learn how to play tough.”

An MC announces the game through a megaphone. Today, the MC just calls Leon, “Nick.” He may not be one of the many NBA players who stop by the court, but the MC doesn’t need to say more. Even if someone only casually follows street basketball, they know Nick. 

Leon’s look complements his game. Although he is one of the smaller players on the court, his James Harden-like beard makes up for it. His arms are filled wall-to-wall with tattoos. It’s a look that gets Leon recognized off the court, as one of streetball’s premier players. This summer, he was shopping in Midtown, when he was stopped by a fan. “Aren’t you Nick at Night?” the fan asked. 

On this day, Leon makes it clear from opening tip that, yes, he is Nick at Night. His team, however, is overmatched. It’s Leon’s job to keep them in the game. At Dyckman, Leon is more of a passer, but at West 4th, he flashes back to those days before college, those days when he was purely a scorer. Still, he doesn’t blow by anyone. He isn’t trying to chop defender’s ankles every possession. He’s poised, calm and collected, never seeming to let the speed of the game interrupt his controlled pace. 

“It’s not a flashy kind of normal New York trickery, like circus kind of crossover,” Riviera says. “It’s just so basic. It’s more professional than the average guard from New York. […] Nick is not taking a million dribbles to get a shot off.”

“The Veteran,” one streetball MC calls him. Riviera calls him “Steve Nash.” Leon argues that, even if he doesn’t try to isolate his defender every time, fans appreciate his game. “If you play the game the right way, you can still entertain the fans,” he says.

And that, for Leon, is the goal, at least when he is on a New York City playground. 

“Streetball is not organized. It’s simply for entertainment, getting your name out there, and playing against the best competition,” Leon says. “So when you step on that court and you’re not putting on a show? No one wants to watch you!” 

To compensate for not being the most athletic guy on the floor, Leon learned how to shoot. That is how he earned his main streetball nickname, Nick at Night, from Fly Tie, the announcer at the Gersh summer league in Brooklyn. When the sun went down and the lights came on, Nick Leon started firing away. 

“He’s what the NBA is now,” Riviera says. “He already had all of that, years ago—the shooting, three-point shooting. He has all that. That’s what he does in his sleep.”

It’s a jumpshot that Leon learned from playing with his cousin, already a respected player in the New York City streets. His dad, a boxer in the 1980s, gave him some basketball tips, but Leon’s relationship with both his dad and mom was always a little rocky. 

His parents divorced when he was 3, but Leon can still remember their loud, sometimes violent fights. His mom left for Florida, but, Eddie, his dad, stayed home in Brooklyn and raised him. Eddie put food on the table, clothes on Nick’s back and encouraged his eldest son to do well in school. But the two still butted heads. The constant arguing drove a wedge between father and son. It was basketball—really, streetball—that gave Nick a place in the city.  

It wasn’t only a jump shot that made noise in parks like Queensbridge and West 4th, but it was a jump shot that fit perfectly with his high school team, Abraham Lincoln, where Leon played with national sensations and future NBA players Sebastian Telfair and Lance Stephenson. Double teams converged on the stars, leaving Leon wide open for his trademark jumpshot, helping lead the Railsplitters to two city championships. 

“That’s how I knew Nick, from the Sebastian Telfair documentary,” says Wesley Jenkins, his college teammate at St. Peter’s. “I always knew him as the Spanish kid with the white headband. […] Every time the Spanish kid got subbed into the game, he always hit clutch three-pointers every single time.”

Leon’s coach at St. Peter’s, John Dunne, who now coaches at Marist College, noticed Leon’s jumpshot right away too.

“I think sometimes a lot of quote-unquote, street players, they talk about New York City guards being able to put it down and drive it and get to the rim,” Dunne says. “But I feel like Nick, he had a really pure shot. He can really shoot the ball.”

—

During his first year at St. Peter’s, Leon would wake up in Brooklyn and hop on the D subway line. The subway took him to Penn Station, where he would transfer to the New Jersey Path Line. From there, he would cross over the bridge to Jersey City, dropping him off at a shuttle bus that would bring him to campus. After an hour and a half, Leon was finally at St. Peter’s College. Every morning for a year, this was Leon’s schedule. There and back. There and back. There and back.

But Leon didn’t have any time to worry about the commute—he had homework to get done. He needed a 3.5 GPA to stay in school. He couldn’t waste a down moment.  

When Leon arrived at St. Peter’s in the fall of 2006, he was told he wasn’t eligible for his scholarship. His grades and SAT scores were too low. He was left with a decision: stay at St. Peter’s and pay $40,000 or transfer to a junior college somewhere in the South. 

His father had just gone to jail for drug trafficking. His step-mom was taking care of his younger siblings. And who knows whether or not he would get his degree if he left school. He could make up the money in the future, he decided. Staying at St. Peter’s was his way to the next level, his way out. 

So he sacrificed his first year of basketball at St. Peter’s. Instead he ran the St. Peter’s recreation center. He played New York City streetball. Anything to stay in shape and keep his mind from the mounting pile of school work and family drama that would meet him when he finished. Anything to feel that flow, that freedom, and to get the crowd to say his name.  

Leon maintained a 3.5 GPA. He stayed at St. Peter’s. He took care of his family. And he got buckets in the streetball leagues. Maybe even too many.

When Leon arrived in the fall of 2007, he was antsy to put up some points as a redshirt freshman. But Dunne didn’t need another scorer. He needed a point guard, a true point guard.

“I was taking a guy who was a flat out scorer, shooter, in high school in New York City Public League where they’re just scoring the ball, going up and down,” Dunne says. “And you’re trying to make him into a point guard. He has to share the ball, get you into offense. And that is not an easy process.”

Leon slowly adjusted to life as a point guard, passing up shots and dishing out assists instead. Even during that transition, Leon remained the team’s best shooter, his teammate Jenkins, says. While he may have shed some of his streetball score-first tendencies, he still brought that showmanship, that toughness, that New York City streetball mentality to St. Peter’s. 

“Nick definitely looked at the crowd, he was definitely an energized person,” Jenkins says. “He yells, he screams, he talks trash. That’s Nick. You gotta live with that.”

Dalip Bhatia, who was hired as an assistant coach at St. Peter’s in 2008 and still coaches with Dunne at Marist, saw Leon’s New York City basketball roots in a different light. “He came with that tough minded, hard nosed, street mentality. […] I think it transformed and rubbed off on to his teammates. That physical toughness that no one is gonna push you around,” Bhatia says.

Leon still found ways to make the game fun, even in the more structured college basketball. He didn’t entertain the crowd by trying to go for 50, but by coming off down-screens and nailing a three. By threading the needle on a well-executed pick-and-roll.

During his freshman year, Leon started 27 games as St. Peter’s finished 6-24. By his senior year, with Leon firmly established as the team’s point guard, they were conference champions for the first time in 14 years. That earned the Peacocks a ticket to the Big Dance as a 14-seed, matching up with a nationally-ranked Purdue team.

There was so much to plan for March Madness. The trip. The practices. The scouting. Leon was in Dunne’s office discussing the details when his phone rang. It was reporter Ian Begley from ESPN’s New York office. Leon went back to his room and returned the call. Begley wanted to know about the New York City boy, and how he had helped the team achieve history. But Leon stopped him right there.

“You know what Ian?” Leon remembers saying. “This is all great, us making history and you wanting to do a story on our team. But I have an even better story.”

For the previous 15 years, Leon had held in a deep, dark secret. A secret that he had left in Florida when he had lived with his mom for about two years. The story of a man, a family friend, who had molested him. His father knew some minor details, but not a single other person in his life knew—not his coaches, teammates or family members. Leon felt it was finally time to put his story out in the open, beneath the bright lights of March Madness. 

Begley, who came for a basketball story, left with a much more sensitive topic. He called extra sources and made sure his details were spot on. This wasn’t a story for artistic freedom.   

“I just remember wanting to make sure he was comfortable relaying this story to the public,” Begley says.

But Leon wanted to help those in a similar situation. What better outlet than the country’s premier sports media source? He didn’t want it to just reach New York City, he wanted it to reach people in North Carolina and California and Puerto Rico. Ultimately, Leon knew that being good at basketball, and streetball, wasn’t enough. He could make a bigger impact, put on a different and more important kind of show. Begley called the act “selfless.”

“I was very impressed by his courage to share what he shared,” Begley adds. For this very reason, Begley says the story stuck with him for years to come.

For Leon, it was a way for him to escape the things holding him down, to get out from under the shadows and into the open, like basketball and streetball had done for him. 

“After so many years I felt so relieved and I felt like the weight just came off my shoulders,” Leon says.

St. Peter’s fell to Purdue 65-43, but professional teams came calling. It wasn’t long until he was traveling around the world, from Puerto Rico to Costa Rica to Mexico to Columbia to Chile, and now, to the Domincan Republic. But he still had to keep his name alive in New York City. And so, during any off moment he had, any day he was off, he found his way to the blacktops.

—

Nick Leon is fashionably late to the interview. His black Jordans step out of the Mercedes Benz and into the hip Times Square Mexican restaurant. His blue, floral patterned shirt is half buttoned, showing off the gold chain dangling from his neck. Leon is already losing some hair, but no one in the restaurant can tell with a top hat covering his head. 

He talks faster than he plays, skirting from one point to the next, his hands darting across his body. He speaks with emphasis and inflection. It’s a far cry from his patient and methodical basketball game. 

Leon leaves the US just as quickly as he speaks. Three days after meeting in the Times Square restaurant, a team in San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic called. The owner wanted the sharp shooting point guard to run their team. Leon had to decide if he wanted to go.

He thought about his father, who, in this past year, had been diagnosed with ALS. At the time of his diagnosis, Eddie and Nick spoke so little that Nick received the news through his step-mother. In 2015, his mother passed away from diabetes. Four years later, Nick is going through the same experience with his dad and he is ready to put all of their past arguments aside. With Eddie having only a few years to live, Nick and his father have mended their wounds, wounds that had Nick running to the basketball courts. They are finally starting to have the relationship that Nick had long hoped for and it brings tears to his eyes. Nick wasn’t sure if he was ready to leave that behind.

And then there were his jobs. His acting. His modeling. His job as a film director, editor and social media manager for a mortgage company. There’s his community work, too—like speaking to kids at foster homes or creating a charity for ALS. Was he just going to drop all of that too?

And then, to top it all off, it was the middle of streetball playoffs. He had spent six days a week, all summer, hoping for the opportunity to add another trophy to his streetball championship case. What about all of the fans who loved watching him nail three after three? What about the streetball reputation he had to maintain? 

He decided he couldn’t pass up the opportunity. A day after receiving the call, he was off to the Domincan Republic. By the first game in early August, he was dropping 28 points and 6 assists. He called his dad to update him on every games.

Of course, he missed streetball, too. He knows, though, that his 31-year-old self made the right decision. As loud as Nick Leon’s name may ring out on the New York City courts, streetball is not the end-all-be-all for Leon. He showed it when St. Peter’s took his scholarship away. He showed it when Dunne needed a point guard. He showed it when ESPN‘s Ian Begley called. Nick Leon always has one step higher to climb, one more goal to meet. And now it was time to make that climb again.

Sure, streetball has helped shape Leon’s life, from his showmanship to his fearlessness to his swag. And of course he’s a streetball legend. But as much fun as it is, he doesn’t want his life to be defined by it. He wants to get his charities off the ground. He wants to be able to support his family. Leon has gotten to the level where he is compensated for his play in the streetball leagues. Whether that is gas money, toll money, or even straight up getting paid, if Leon is going to bang up his body playing on the blacktops, he wants to get something out of it. But the real money comes when Leon steps foot on a plane, explores a new location overseas, and gets some buckets along the way. 

Still, Leon thought of streetball as he sat in the Dominican Republic. When he found strong WiFi, he caught a glimpse of fans storming the court at Dyckman, of players scoring 40 points in “The Cage,” of teams winning playoff games in front of hundreds of fans at Gersh. 

“If I’m home, I love playing street basketball,” Leon says. “But if I have the opportunity to make money and play professionally and send money to my family if they need it, guess what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna [play professionally]. I might not get the recognition back home, but my family is gonna love me for it. My family is gonna love the fact that when they need something I have the ability to give it to them.”

On August 21, Leon’s team fell, failing to capture his first, elusive professional ring. Two days later, as early as possible, he was on a plane back to New York City. He had a streetball championship in the upper Harlem based Uptown Basketball Alliance (UBA) league to perform in.

Five hours after landing, Leon was back home, hoisting a championship and MVP trophy. He couldn’t let them forget. Nick Leon puts on the best shows in New York City.

—

Benjamin Simon is an intern at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @BenjaminSimon05.

Photos courtesy of Bryant Diaz / Uptown Basketball Alliance and Getty Images

The post THE SHOW: NYC Streetball Legend Nick Leon Stays True To His Roots 🍿 appeared first on SLAM.

Dyckman will face Waston in the championship game on Saturday, August 17 at Rucker Park. Bring ya popcorn.

Game 1: Watson 74, Lincoln Park 39

Game 2: Gersh 54, Dyckman 62 (OT)

The post Nike’s New York vs New York For Her Semifinals Recap appeared first on SLAM.

Watson 85, Lincoln 52

Gersh 90, Tri-State 64

The post #NYvsNY Playoffs: Round 1 Recap appeared first on SLAM.

Gersh 66, Lincoln 59

Dyckman 73, Watson 69

Y’all ready for the PLAYOFFS?!

The post #NYvsNY Week 5 Recap appeared first on SLAM.

Dyckman 62, West 4th 49

Watson 70, Lincoln 57

Gersh 80, Tri State 74

The post Nike’s New York vs. New York Week Two Recap 🗽 appeared first on SLAM.

West 4th 68, Tri State 66

Dyckman 87, Lincoln 67

Gersh 68, Watson 65

Photo via Nike.

The post Nike’s New York vs. New York Week One Recap 🗽 appeared first on SLAM.

From the NY Rens — the first all-black professional team — in the 1920s, to Holcombe Rucker’s famous park tournament established in the 1950s, to the ascendance of greats such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Chris Mullin, to today’s summer leagues at Dyckman, the rich history of NYC basketball is legendary.

Over the course of the past century, the Big Apple has emerged as the Mecca of hoops. The video above, presented by SLAM and Spalding, traces this remarkable rise.

On Saturday, the best high school prospects in the country are coming to NYC to prove themselves in the inaugural SLAM Summer Classic Game at Dyckman, which will be streamed live on Facebook. Players such as James Wiseman and Cassius Stanley are following in the footsteps of those who have graced the iconic blacktop before them.

Because when it comes to basketball in the Mecca, new history is made every single day.

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@gmb_chum12 x Dyckman

A post shared by Corey Porter (@cporter_) on Jun 23, 2018 at 10:01am PDT

(Lance Stephenson also made an appearance.)

The previous night, Scary Terry called up Danny Ainge, and got him to publicly reveal Boston’s pick ahead of the NBA Draft.

Per ESPN:

“I got to draft a point guard,” Ainge joked when Rozier, Boston’s postseason starter while Kyrie Irving was injured, first asked about the team’s selection. Pressed for the actual pick, Ainge answered, “It’s going to be Bob Williams, but we’re looking at all the medical stuff.”

After Thursday’s draft concluded, Ainge admitted he was unaware that Rozier was calling during a live broadcast.

“I was obviously joking with Terry about the guard position. I had no idea I was on live, whatever it was,” Ainge said. “I thought he was FaceTiming me. I had no idea. But, anyway, that is sort of funny. We’re excited about Robert, and we felt like he was the best player available, and we think he’s a great fit for our team.”

The post Terry Rozier Puts on a Show at Dyckman Park appeared first on SLAM.

The film is told through the lens of Garcia, who explores the connections between global basketball, sneaker and music lifestyle. It also displays some of Garcia’s youth as he overcame adversity to ascend to the respected DJ he is today. The freelance creative has inspired millions throughout the world, and has affected the footwear, hip-hop and music industries.

Garcia has previously released “Stretch and Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives” in 2015,  which included iconic names in the music industry such as Jay Z and Eminem.

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The post Bobbito Garcia’s ‘Rock Rubber 45s’ Trailer appeared first on SLAM.

So they played as hard as possibly could. Squads from all over the globe, ranging from South Korea to a local team from DC, competed in a two-day marathon-like tournament. And on Saturday evening, with that unforgiving sun finally starting to set, the hometown DC Showstoppers won it all, capping off a nonstop, all-out sprint for the right to be named the 2017 Red Bull Reign 3-on-3 World Finals champs.

The DC Showstoppers win the 2017 #RedBullReign World Finals! pic.twitter.com/vbwc5ZEZoo

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) September 16, 2017

“Truthfully I’m too tired to show any emotion,” Jamahl Brown, one of the Showstoppers unstoppable scorers, said with a big smile after their last win. “We played, like, 30 games in two days within 12 hours. I’m exhausted.”

Nathan Flowers, another bucket-getter, Chris Howard, a tempo-setting point guard, and Jeff Allen, a do-it-all big man, rounded out the Showstoppers lineup. They soundly beat the group from Montenegro, even though the final score was just 14-10.

They had gotten plenty of buckets beforehand. Both Friday and Saturday’s winners (until the concluding matchup) were determined by a points system and not by wins and losses. The Showstoppers were able to outlast Team Cleveland on Friday, barely squeaking out a 13-11 victory. They were standing after hoopers from Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Indianapolis and New Orleans had fallen.

Flowers, after drilling the game-winning two-pointer on Friday, sat down on the bleachers and said, “It’s nonstop competitive play. You’re going at your maximum for 10 minutes, offense and defense, constantly changing. It’s no breaks. Sometimes we had to go back-to-back and there was some good players out here.”

And that endless style of play is exactly what Paul Gudde was looking for when he designed the tourney.

“It was cool for the local team to make it to the World Finals,” Gudde, the Cologne, Germany, native said after everything had wrapped up. “And then for them, they had, like, 13 games yesterday. So I was waiting for their juice to run out today but it didn’t happen because we were on their home turf. So they had that special energy in them.”

That home turf played host to teams from Australia, Argentina, Chile, Indonesia, Kuwait, Montenegro, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Serbia, South Korea and Turkey. The international crowd brought a different level of physicality, quickness and competitiveness to the second day.

The South Korean team became fan favorites. Bobbito Garcia, sharing microphone duties with the legendary Miles Rawls, took a liking to the Chilean and Turkish players. Rawls spent all day hyping up the hometown boys. His support worked.

“I never signed an autograph down here until this tournament,” Flowers said after the games. “That just goes to show the notoriety and exposure we’re getting from Red Bull.”

“Nobody could ever take it away,” Flowers continued. “Definitely got bragging rights. I’ll probably be talking about this until the day I die.”

—

Photo gallery courtesy of Red Bull, body photograph courtesy of Jahaira Dixon

The post DC Showstoppers Win the 2017 Red Bull Reign 3-on-3 World Finals appeared first on SLAM.

Listen above or check us out on audioBoom, iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play.

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He started to run through a big plan he had for renting out a park in the city, hopping on a microphone and bringing all of his friends out to play. But he didn’t want this to just be another tournament in New York, something that he, the city and I had already seen a million times. He wanted to bring the popular game of “21” to the full court, something nobody had ever done.

The sun was still out when I finished my call with Bob on that day. I went out to the park to play ball, not thinking much about his idea.

But now Full Court 21 has been running for five strong years and the tournament has realized its potential.

“When I started the tournament, my vision was to provide an opportunity for players of any locale to experience authentic New York City basketball in a way that they can’t get in other tournaments because of politics,” Garcia says.

“In my tournament, you get a shirt, you get an announcer, you get referees, you get scorekeepers and you get to play in the only tournament of its kind in the world where there’s no teammates, there’s no passing,” he continues. “Every player on the floor is defending whoever has possession of the basketball. It’s a unique tournament. I’m so happy I pulled it off.”

Not only did he pull it off—he continues to make it grow. FC21 has gone from New York City staples like Riverside Park to Booker T. Washington Park to its current location, the Goat Park, where Bob grew up hooping and learning from the legendary Earl Manigault. He’s got his friends and family around, either watching every week or helping to keep score or schedule out games. He’s also got men and women from around the world either coming to New York or playing FC21 in spots like Manila, Toronto and Tokyo.

“It’s about getting people involved in a New York style game,” Bob says. “We did the tournament in Manila, the Philippines, and the organizer told me it was actually a hard sell because they love playing team basketball there. They’re not really about individual play. The guys that did sign up loved it. When people experience it, they just get hooked.”

Bob’s found a middle ground between competitive basketball and a welcoming and open environment. Like he promised back in 2013, he’s on the microphone with his guy Kurt, who helps out. The sidelines at the Goat are dotted with people closely watching the back-and-forth action. And while everyone is truly going to battle, it’s all love out there, from everyone involved.

Bob smiles when I bring up my earliest FC21 memory because he doesn’t remember it or doing a Q+A about it a few weeks later.

Bob says, “You know, the fact that I’m here and I’m able to contribute to my community where I grew up, it’s a dream and something I envisioned of doing when I was 14. Now, I’m 50 and I’m doing it. It’s beautiful.”

—

The fifth year of Bobbito Garcia’s FC21 Tournament is wrapping up on August 22. Players from Manila, Japan, Canada, Los Angeles and Philadelphia are coming out to the Goat Park in New York to play in the World Final. Photos courtesy of Instagram and Imani Vidal. Listen to Bobbito’s NPR podcast here. 

The post Five Star appeared first on SLAM.

This is how you introduce yourself to NEW YORK CITY. Game-winning three in Overtime of a Playoff game. @Dloading did that! #IceWater pic.twitter.com/K7SYO09lyE

— Dyckman Basketball (@IamDyckman) August 10, 2017

The Brooklyn Nets’ newest point guard came through in the clutch, leading Highbridge the Label to an 80-77 overtime victory against Strictly Business in the playoffs.

The 21-year-old was immediately mobbed by the Dyckman crowd.

Per the NY Post:

Two other Nets also played — Isaiah Whitehead and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson — for Highbridge the Label.

 

Whitehead scored 33 and Russell had 20. Cairo Brown scored 37 to lead Strictly Business.

The post D’Angelo Russell Hits Game-Winner in Dyckman Park Playoffs appeared first on SLAM.

Walk through Rucker Park’s entrance and it’s probable you’ll overhear one of the security guards say, “Welcome to Greg Marius’s court.” Though uttered from a place of respect for the late, great CEO, it indicates that Greg’s memory hangs high expectations over his nephew. Despite these expectations, one thing is resoundingly clear: Cordell Marius remains unfazed.

“There’s talk,” the younger Marius says, referring to a small minority who think he’s too young, too inexperienced, too this, not enough that. But there was similar talk back in the 1980s, when the Entertainers Basketball Classic first took Rucker Park by storm.

Long before the park at 155th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard was named after Holcombe Rucker, the game of basketball as we now know it was being built at a playground on Seventh Avenue between 128th and 129th Streets. For over 20 years Mr. Rucker was known for his epic tournaments, which featured both the best pro ballers and streetball legends. Harlem developed a flashier, more entertaining brand of basketball that would influence the billion-dollar game we watch on TV today. But more importantly, through his motto, “each one teach one,” Mr. Rucker taught a generation of young boys how to become men—and did it strictly for the love of his community. He passed due to complications from cancer at the age of 38, and with him went the players. By 1980, weeds had grown over the park’s dream as the NBA began poaching players from the park by paying premium dollar for the talent and style Mr. Rucker and his park had helped create.

Enter Greg Marius, member of the hip-hop crew Disco Four, who one day, while on the radio, challenged a rival crew to a game at the Rucker. Greg built on this idea, and from the energy of these grudge matches spawned a vision of better talent and bigger money. Soon to follow was the Rucker’s crown jewel, the Entertainers Basketball Classic. The EBC’s brand of streetball and bravado brought sponsorships to the same court where kids had once come to learn the game and life lessons alike.

We live in a different world of basketball now, where everything is scouted, developed and monetized—a world that Mr. Rucker had helped create with his pro tournaments. Had Greg Marius left Rucker alone, it’s more than likely that another set of hands would’ve grabbed up the plot of asphalt and transformed the land into something entirely foreign to its Harlem roots. From this perspective, it seems not only fair, but necessary that Greg Marius used his business acumen to breathe life into a new generation of streetballers at Rucker Park.

One of Cordell Marius’s goals for the Rucker can be gleaned from its history of epic pro performances. For those unfamiliar with such lore, just search YouTube for the likes of “KD drops 66”, or “Kobe at Rucker.” Or how about “Vince Carter vs. Whole Lotta Game.” The running thread here? Whether it’s KD’s billionth 27-footer in a row, or Vince’s absolutely ballistic windmill, these first-balloters dazzled Rucker’s crowds to such extraordinary effect, it was all but inevitable that fans would clear the stands for upwards of 15-20 minutes, bodies bellowing and bum-rushing the court as though a champion had just been crowned.

What’s often lost within the swirl of sponsorships and showtime is just how the elder Marius attracted NBA talent to Rucker. Cordell says he once asked his uncle how KD’s invite went down. All Greg had said was, “He called me.”

Prior to this April, Cordell was given little insight into how the park was run. Up until this summer, Cordell’s only job at the park had been to clean up under the seats, back when he was 15. Through his college years and mid-20s he focused on his own goals, which culminated when he became an Assistant Dean of Discipline at NYC’s Renaissance Charter High School for Innovation. Just as Greg had made his own way, he wanted his nephew to do the same.

“But none of us really believed he wouldn’t beat [the cancer],” Cordell says.

Which is why, in lieu of the long-awaited coronation everyone expected for him, he’s had to hit the ground running. The hours have been trying—games often run past schedule, until 10 or 11 p.m. “Those are creeping hours,” Cordell jokes, tacitly communicating that he has no time for such tomfoolery. While he keeps the faith in his path, he still faces Rucker’s bare crosshatched fences, once covered with big-brand sponsorships. Just days after his uncle’s death, he had to unwrap the EBC’s accounts only to learn that the sponsorship contracts had all run their course. “The timing was tough,” he says. Greg passed right at the end of the fiscal year, forcing Cordell to draw up corporate proposals without prior experience or training.

Could Greg have been a bit more forthcoming to his nephew about the method to Rucker’s madness? Sure. But Cordell isn’t dwelling upon what he can’t control. For now, he’s keeping specific negotiations under wraps. What is public information, however, is that he has contacts at big sports brands who want to boost Rucker. Cordell also knows he can rely on Greg’s old friends. For what, he’s not exactly sure yet, but it’s the loyalty that matters. As Cordell says, “One hand washes the other.” Meaning, whether he’s after corporate sponsors, better talent, or Harlem luminaries, it starts with the community’s investment—the same people that swarmed KD, Kobe, Vince and so many others. It’s the fans of the game who are stepping up to preserve the park in its time of need, offering donations and fundraising to shore up any temporary leaks. With such an immovable base, Cordell is confident that financial interest is inevitable.

And there are benefits inherent to the challenges Cordell faces. His vision for the Rucker includes an overhaul that, in some ways, is made easier for the blank slate left by Greg Marius. Speaking on his uncle’s generation, he says, “They ain’t real heavy into social media.”

Between the thousand tasks he performs per night—answering questions, greeting folks, bringing uniforms to this team and that ref—Cordell is busy boosting their media game and attracting fresher music talent. Earlier this summer, the Rucker featured the likes of DJ XO, Signature and Mr. Commodore, all players on the music and media scene. The analog for his vision is the come-up of Harlem’s own A$AP Rocky. Cordell is confident that by bringing in local talent that’s poised to blow, he’ll bring in a whole new era of Rucker loyalty and branding. In the car he even rattles off bars from tracks that sound as alien to a Dean of Students in 2017 as Rocky’s “Purple Swag” did to Cordell’s teachers back in 2011. Speaking of the kids at his school, he says, “Now I’m listening.”

Not long after Greg’s passing, Cordell had a sit-down with Fat Joe. Like Cordell’s uncle, the Terror Squad rap magnate has mainly offered advice of the more existential variety. Cordell’s encounters with expert businessmen, for the time being, is packed with this type of implicit value, which he hopes will pay off in the future. But it’s not the only value he’s bringing in right now. One of his teams, the Sean Bell All-Stars, recently won a cool ten grand at the Biv10 Tournament in Boston, put on by Mike Bivins of New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe fame. Going out to another legendary court named after a legendary figure in the game—it’s a big deal, and it’s one of many reasons why the people of Harlem continue to give back to Rucker Park to ensure its growth.

“It’s not like ’95 and ’03, when tons of people were in the crowd,” Cordell says. But aside from the stripped banners, timeouts at the Rucker haven’t changed much. If you just slow-mo the globetrotter going backwards on rollerblades and spinning a ball on an American flagstick, it might look something like an A$AP video—only instead of the enigmatic beat to “Peso,” you hear DJ XO cut to Freeway’s ’03 banger, “Flipside.”

Just like Greg used to do, you see Cordell Marius talking to 100 different people, doing 100 different things, all while paying attention to interviewers and performers. But further beneath what you see and hear, below the music and the clothes, down to the bodies in the bleachers, it all starts to feel like a throwback to Holcombe Rucker’s days, when everything they had came from within, and everything they had was devoted to keeping the games running.

—

Brian Birnbaum is a freelance writer based in New York City.

Photos via Getty Images and Cordell Marius

The post Carry On Tradition appeared first on SLAM.

Check out the schedule below for details on the tour’s stops:

Saturday, August 5th (1:45 PM) Staples Center, Los Angeles — Nike 3-on-3

Friday, August 11th to Saturday, August 12th (4:00 PM) Nicetown Park, Philadelphia — Give Back Festival

Sunday, August 13th (3:00 PM) Venice Beach, Los Angeles — VBL Championship 

The post Ballin’ For Peace National Tour To Hit LA & Philly This Month appeared first on SLAM.

The Nike Basketball 3ON3 Tournament returns to L.A. from August 4-6 for a weekend full of streetball and fun for everyone.

It all kicks off on Friday, August 4 at the REAL 92.3 Celebrity Basketball Game where you can see your favorite stars, including Nick Cannon, The Game, Omarion, Tyga and more show off their skills.

Tickets start at just $35 and benefit the Follow The Dream Foundation.

Nike Basketball 3ON3 Tournament play happens August 5 and 6 where more than 1,500 teams participate and thousands of spectators come out to watch all the action.

Waiting for the next game to start? Make sure you stop by the FREE fan fest where there will be tons of giveaways and activities!

Also, don’t forget to check out the fun at the slam dunk contest, where high-flying dunkers dazzle the crowd for the crown.

Don’t miss your chance to compete in the biggest 3-on-3 tournament in Los Angeles!

Register now by July 31 at 11:59 PST. SLAM subscribers get a special offer of $20 off with code SLAM.

The post Register for the Nike Basketball 3ON3 Tournament in Los Angeles appeared first on SLAM.

The event was hosted by Los Angeles Laker Larry Nance Jr. and his father Larry Nance, a pair that knows a thing or two about high-flying dunks. A number of talented dunkers, including Myree “Reemix” Bowden, Jonathan Clark, and famous dunk innovator Taurian “Air Up There” Fontenette, showcased their stuff.

Jonathan Clark took home the crown with a historic performance. He squeaked in a dunk on an 11-8 tall hoop, a new world record for an outdoor competition, and then topped that by throwing down a reverse double-clutch jam over a group of women. Peep the highlights above.

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Photos Courtesy of Jeremy Renault and Mike Miller, Venice Basketball League

The post J Clark The Jumper Wins VBL DunkFest 2.0 appeared first on SLAM.

Defending champion and undefeated NovaStars maintained their perfect record with a 77-64 win over The Panda’s Friend. It was a tight game in the first half when No Fear threw a perfect lob to Tristan “King Hustle” Wilson on a 2-on-1 fast-break for the slam to get his team rolling. No Fear racked up 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 15 dimes and King Hustle dropped 33 to secure his 5th straight player of the game honors.

Project Backboard defeated El Crew 80-52 in the only blowout of the afternoon, as player of the game Ryan Nitz finished with 30 points and 12 boards. Meanwhile, Most Hated Players notched a victory highlighted by a baseline drive and one-handed flush by Chosen One, and Hub Select also took care of business and got a W.

Stick with SLAM throughout the summer to see if any VBL squad can catch up to NovaStars.

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Photos courtesy of Jeremy Renault, Venice Basketball League

The post NovaStars Still Perfect After Five Weeks of Venice Basketball League appeared first on SLAM.

Elsewhere, Metta World Peace’s team made it into the win column for the first time this season, knocking off the China Elite All-Stars while Team Sunblock escaped with a three point win over former VBL Champions Hall of Fame.

With a whole summer of basketball to be played in the Venice Basketball League, it is early, but it does seem that Wilson and his team remain the cream of the crop. Let’s see if someone can make a push as teams continue to feel one another out.

Photos Courtesy of Venice Basketball League

Related:
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The post NovaStars Remain Undefeated in 2017 Venice Basketball League appeared first on SLAM.

The Hangar, and its 35,000 square feet, has become a hotspot for all types of events in recent years. Car shows, concerts, and design fairs have all come through at different points.

This weekend, though, the Hangar played host to hoopers from the greater-Los Angeles area and the final stop of the six-city #DewNBA3X tour. The nationwide 3-on-3 tournament kicked off in May and made its way through Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Chicago and Houston. Thousands of men and women competed for the grand prize—a chance to represent America at the FIBA 3×3 tournaments at the end of this year.

Basketball has taken over Santa Monica Airport this weekend, where the NBA & Mountain Dew are hosting #DewNBA3x, a 3-on-3 national tourney. pic.twitter.com/TzzR4mG3Tz

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) October 22, 2016

On Saturday, teams representing Los Angeles vied for a spot to play on Sunday (against the winners from the previous five cities), when the FIBA spot would be on the line. Familiar names like Youtube sensation and NBA player impersonator Brandon Armstrong, better known as BdotAdot5, and Franklin Session, Damian Lillard’s teammate at Weber State, suited up on Saturday. Additionally, former and current NBA players like Gary Payton, Baron Davis, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson all stopped by as well.

.@J30_RANDLE talks @MountainDew partnership, Lakers exceeding expectations this year & life after Kobe, while at #DewNBA3X this past weekend pic.twitter.com/FHfs2Ictf2

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) October 24, 2016

“The rules are really different. I wasn’t expecting any of this,” Armstrong said. “Once the team scores, you gotta get the ball and throw it back out. So the first possession they scored, I got it and walked it back out to check it out. They called a travel on me,” he said with a smile.

FIBA has made sure to make the playing and watching experience very different from 5-on-5 ball. Games are to 21, or whoever has the most points after the 10-minute clock expires. There’s a 12-second shot clock and like Bdot said, there’s no checking after buckets. Instead, players grab the ball straight out the basket and throw it up top, past the three-point line.

The game’s played with 1 and 2-pointers. When fouled, teams get one shot until their opponent commits six team fouls, after which they get two shots.

The pace of the game isn’t at all like 5-on-5, which DewNBA3X ambassador Gary Payton noticed.

“Three-on-three, you gotta play defense,” The Glove said. “It’s a lot different. Now you gotta buckle down and guard.”

Team Harlem got the message. The four native New Yorkers traveled out west to win the LA crown and eventually the whole tour.

The six-city #DewNBA3X tourney culminated in LA on Sunday night, with Team Harlem of New York claiming the 3-on-3 title. Peep the top plays. pic.twitter.com/3WxUowXJth

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) October 25, 2016

And yes, a team from New York represented LA. But because the #DewNBA3X tour didn’t have a stop in New York, Anthony Cox, Kavon Lytch, Domo Jones and Dave Seagers traveled across the country to compete for the title of Los Angeles’ best team.

The foursome played a grueling brand of basketball, punishing anyone that stood between them and the basket. They were all capable of getting buckets by themselves and were willing passers when teams brought two or more bodies.

Their game oozed New York. They played one-on-one, dribble breakdown ball, prioritizing getting to the rim over jumpshots. With Cox and Lytch standing 6-9 and 6-7, respectively, their height and athleticism was just too much for The Unknowns (Chicago) to overcome.

“It’s so funny because one of us is always with the other one,” Cox says. “We’ve been playing together for a while, a couple of years. We started off enemies. I played on a different team against Kavon. Dave, you think you got him, and then somehow he gets that bucket. He’s one of those annoying players. But you love his game. It’s a compliment. And Domo… that kid is amazing.”

[Domo] Jones plays with a raw desire to prove his height won’t stop him from getting where he wants to go. His strength was a mismatch for any guard he played against. He was a bully throughout every game, managing everyone on the court.

“We just knew if we played our game, we were going to come out victorious,” Jones says. “We’re all about that New York toughness. That’s all we do, is bring that toughness. Every where we go, we gotta represent where we’re from because ain’t nobody going to give us no passes so we earn it.”

They earned a trip to Doha for the 2016 FIBA 3×3 All-Stars game and at some point down the line, could be representing America in the 2020 Olympics, when 3×3 will become an official sport.

Though Armstrong’s team didn’t make it out of the first day, the YouTube star has already recognized that 3×3 ball is here to stay.

“It’s definitely something that [basketball players] can actually make a career out of and travel the world doing,” he says.

The post 2016 #DewNBA3X Tour Recap appeared first on SLAM.

Through the last 50 years, the Rucker, as it’s now known, has seen dunks by Julius Erving, blocks by Wilt Chamberlain, jumpshots by Lew Alcindor and crossovers by Nate Archibald. It’s become the greatest place to see outdoor basketball, thanks in large part to the man who transitioned it from Holcombe’s vision to its modern day version.

That man is Greg Marius, a former musician and basketball player who’s from New York. In June 1980, Marius and his team were challenged to a pickup game by a rival squad. They crushed them in front of the whole neighborhood and before long, the Entertainer’s Basketball Classic would start.

As the founder and man who still runs the most famous tournament in basketball, Marius has been on-hand for all of it. He’s seen careers launch and stall, and even kickstarted a few players by himself.

SLAM caught up with the living legend at Rucker Park on a live afternoon to talk hoops and history.

SLAM: Why does New York love basketball so much?

Greg Marius: This is one of the sports that we always play because it’s everywhere. We’ve got basketball courts everywhere.

SLAM: Why do basketball and hip-hop go hand-in-hand?

GM: I think it’s because of tournaments like us. We’ve blended it together and everyone just gravitated to it.

SLAM: There are always a million little kids running around the park. What is it about the EBC that brings the neighborhood’s kids together?

GM: A lot of kids know, especially right here, this park is legendary. So many players been here. To be in this neighborhood and know the legends that came through here, and you be able to play at the same court, it just helps with them wanting to be doing the same thing as well.

SLAM: Who’s the best NBA player to ever come through here?

GM: The best NBA guy? I could say, but I really can’t. You had KD, you had Kobe, you had Vince Carter, you had Allen Iverson. The list goes on. The feeling is I better get up there first and get a seat, or I’m gonna be outside.

SLAM: What about the best rapper or entertainer?

GM: Chris Brown, R. Kelly. Chris Brown is the best to me. He’s good.

SLAM: What’s your best story from all your years here?

GM: My best story is definitely AI. When he came up here, he was sitting on my man’s couch. He said he was gonna play tonight. He got here, he seen the crowd and the out of bounds line was everybody’s feet. So he said it’s ‘the first time I’ve played somewhere where I can’t even see the out of bounds line.’

You had two of the top about to become NBA players in the backcourt together. Steph Marbury was in the backcourt with Allen Iverson. They were a week away from the Draft. Imagine them playing here, taking the chance of being hurt and not being drafted? And they played as hard as ever. No NBA player has ever done that.

My first time even thinking about putting a wood floor down, I gave the idea to Nike because they wanted to do a World Basketball Festival up here. I said the only way I can make it happen is you gotta agree to have a wood floor and then I can donate the wood floor to somebody. We donated it to a center across the street.

They finally finished it about midnight. I sat in here with the lights on, just looking like, ‘Oh my God. I can’t believe this is really happening.’ It happened for the whole summer. Then we ended up buying our own wood floor. This year is the first year I didn’t put it down because it’s a lot of work.

SLAM: Why does every pro that comes through the EBC play so hard?

If they don’t, they gonna shown up like Jerry Stackhouse did. He thought just cause he was in the League, he could just come up here and play. These guys that they playing against is guys that didn’t make it or didn’t have the opportunity to make it and they wanna prove that I was just as good as you. You better show them why you in the League getting a couple million dollars.

SLAM: Why has the EBC lasted for over 30 years?

GM: EBC’s lasted so long because I’ve always been a step above everybody else. I know everybody’s gonna come watch. You mimic something and that’s good flattery. When they still doing something, I’m doing something two years later. We’ve lasted that long because I don’t think small. I’ve always looked and said, ‘I gotta see what’s hot, I gotta see what’s happening with social media, I gotta see what’s happening with the young kids.’ And I stay grounded to the streets.

SLAM: What was your playing style back in the day?

GM: My playing style was mostly jumpshots. I could shoot back then. I didn’t have the handle but I could shoot. And I could pass. Back then it was the rappers. Crash Crew thought they could play. And my crew really could play. We had to play and we beat them by 59 points. From then, I started playing with Pearl Washington, I had Gary Springer, Walter Berry, Richie Adams. That was our team. Eventually, I had to take a backseat and say let the ballplayers really play. I took over the command.

SLAM: You have a relationship with Adam Silver, right?

GM: That’s my boy. Adam Silver been up here several times. When he wasn’t commissioner yet, he brought David Stern and Bill Clinton with him. To have a President in this park, no park ever could say they had a President, they had celebrities like Denzel Washington, artists like Jay Z, Beyonce, Rihanna, Chris Brown. And every top NBA player. All tournaments can say I had the neighborhood guys that made it to the League, but I’ve had guys that are legendary. From Michael Jordan to Pearl Washington, Kobe, LeBron. Keep naming names. They’ve been here.

—

Photo courtesy of Reebok

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Crawford hit the game-winner, but it was LaVine who provided the night’s most ridiculous highlight—which, shockingly, was NOT a dunk. On his way to a smooth 49 points, LaVine delivered one of the nastiest moves of all Summer Sixteen. Check it out via multiple angles below:

Sheesh!

The post Zach LaVine Breaks Ankles, Jamal Crawford Hits Game-Winner in Seattle Pro-Am All-Star Game appeared first on SLAM.

The point guard is just 6-1, but plays with NYC’s trademark toughness. The rising senior recently took to courts at Dyckman Park in his home borough of Harlem, and showed why his game is just as nice on the streets as it is on the hardwood.

Related:
Brad Miller Lookalike Lights Up Dyckman Park

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The 6-10 big man from Cliffside Park, NJ, thrived on the Division II level, and has two more seasons of eligibility left. While Suarez’s game speaks for itself, players have made the comparison to former NBA center Brad Miller.

Suarez may be a pretty good Miller doppelganger, but we’re pretty sure one-time All-Star never had the range that Suarez does.

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The tournament is open to men and women, ages 18 and up. Check out the video recap of last year’s tourney up top. That shit was crazy. Peep the flyer below for official details from Bob himself.

The post Bobbito Garcia’s Full Court 21 Tips Off in NYC on July 19 appeared first on SLAM.

Founded in 1975 by three community recreation leaders—Ervin Brady, Carlton Reed and Morty Hammonds—The Goodman League began as the Barry Farms Community Basketball League. At its inception, the league pitted residents of the Barry Farms housing community versus residents from Parkchester, an adjoining housing community located a stone’s throw away. For many years, the Barry Farms Community Basketball League was only open to residents of either Barry Farms or Parkchester, giving way to intense battles between the talent-rich sections.

In the early 2000s, the league’s name was changed to the Goodman League, honoring George “Pap” Goodman, a lifetime resident and employee at the Barry Farms Recreational Center. Goodman was instrumental in providing opportunities for inner-city youth to keep them from the ills pervading their neighborhood.

In 1996, after serving 12 years in the Army, current League commissioner Miles Rawls came back to his beloved Southeast DC to get some summer run, but found that the league he remembered was no longer functioning. After failing to find someone to rejuvenate the defunct league, Miles decided to do it himself. There were obstacles, of course. Back then, Barry Farms was known as one of the most-dangerous neighborhoods in DC. Although plenty of good people lived there, poverty and crime ran rampant throughout the community. This cast a negative light on the league as many folks simply didn’t feel safe going to the Farms.

Rawls attacked this issue head on. As he continued to operate the league, he was able to foster relationships with local residents to help reduce crime without police presence. Whenever there was an issue of violence within the gates, Rawls would personally seek out the parties involved and tell them to keep the violence away from the league. The courts at Barry Farms Rec were once again hallowed ground.

“Back in those days, like I said, wasn’t nobody coming down to Barry Farms but the people who lived in Barry Farms,” Rawls says. “I was able to make it, you know, safe enough—without police, just street cred and respect—for outside entities to come inside those gates, fans and all, to watch that good basketball that was going on. Just building relationships with the street guys and all that, because we had a few violent days. But when I found out who caused that particular drama on that particular day, I told them to keep that stuff outside the gates.”

As time went on, the commissioner also noticed that the talent within Barry Farms and Parkchester began to dwindle, so he decided to allow outside hoopers—DC residents who were not from Barry Farms—to play within the gates.

Word spread like wildfire and ballers from every corner of the District began coming out to catch wreck. Once the floodgates opened, notable DC-bred players like former Boston Celtics guard Sherman Douglas, former Syracuse and Big East all-time leading scorer Lawrence Moten, streetball legend Curt “Trouble” Smith and a host of other local and semi-pro level players made their way to the Farms to test their mettle.

“Believe it or not, some of the greatest guys we’ve had were not pros,” Rawls says.

As top-notch players entered the Goodman, a younger generation of talent followed. Not only did the quickly growing league become a premier venue for DC-area basketball talent, it also served as a proving ground of sorts for emerging high school players in the DMV. OKC forward Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets forward Michael Beasley, Indiana Pacers guard Ty Lawson and former Duke standout Nolan Smith held their own against grown-man comp in the league while in high school.

An epic game of the Goodman League All Stars vs the AND 1 Mixtape Tour…appearances by Hall of Fame coach John Thompson and Shaquille O’Neal…former US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan playing in the league…these are just some of the highlights from the Goodman League’s rich history.

As DC native Arize Ifejika says: “Not only is it a give-back to the community, it’s a celebration of basketball from a cultural perspective. Just come out and bump. No agents, rankings or politics involved. If you can play, you can play. It takes it back to the essence of basketball.”

For more on the rest of the best summer streetball leagues around the country, check out our 2016 Summer Streetball Leagues Guide.

Photo: Michael Starghill

The post All Good appeared first on SLAM.

Thompson’s early basketball inspirations came from two of the most dynamic leagues in Philly: The Sonny Hill League and an outdoor league taking place at 16th Street and Susquehanna Ave. At the time, Sonny Hill League games were played at Temple University’s McGonigle Hall. Once the games there ended, Philly basketball heads would walk a few blocks to 16th and Susquehanna, where some of the city’s greatest players were battling it out.

“Sixteenth Street really inspired me, because 16th Street was outside, and it was in the community,” Thompson says. “As soon as the Sonny Hill League games were over, you could walk around the corner to 16th Street, and the games would be going on. You would see some of the top players in the city. It was a whole different atmosphere. It was like going to a family reunion or family barbeque with basketball as the centerpiece. So when I was young—I’m talking about 18, 19 years old—I used 16th Street as my blueprint, because the community was involved. You had the Muslim brothers selling fish sandwiches; you had the mom over there selling pies. It was a whole community event centered around basketball, and I thought that was so dope.”

The start of every Chosen League season begins with what Thompson calls the Chosen Game. In the contest, Thompson takes the top graduating seniors who played in the league before and matches them up against the next crop of emerging underclassmen.

What separates the Chosen League from your average run of the mill rec league? The answer lies in that it was designed as a player’s league. Not only was it a forum for top high school athletes to showcase their talents, but it also served as a venue for the top players in the region to go at it. Conversely, it’s common to stumble across a kid who can play but is only known in his section of the city. Some good players may attend high schools that aren’t competitive, so they aren’t afforded the opportunity to go at some of the city’s top competition. A strong showing at 10th and Olney could change a young baller’s life; it could increase a player’s profile, and has even allowed some to receive collegiate scholarship offers.

“You might not get that matchup versus the top dude at your high school or whatever, but when you get down at Chosen League, trust me, you’re gon’ get that matchup that you’re looking for,” Thompson adds. “That’s how you’re going to measure who you are.”

Aside from competitive gameplay and great matchups, the Chosen League gets so much love because it represents the underdog. Thompson says that he rode the bench for his high school team at Olney High School, and even describes himself as a “human victory cigar.” A constant phenomenon that occurs almost every year in the league is the emergence of a virtual unknown. Thompson recalls players such as Sankofa Charter’s Anthony Downing, the Germantown High School duo Ivan Green and Corey Bethea, former La Salle guard Ramon Galloway and even current Samford signee Josh Sharkey as guys who were underrated but performed under the lights at 10th and Olney.

The Chosen League’s alumni list has grown exponentially since 2002. Pros who’ve gotten their start there include Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, Washington Wizards forward Markieff Morris, Portland Trail Blazers guard Gerald Henderson and Brooklyn Nets guard Wayne Ellington. Current collegiate players who have made their mark there include Creighton floor general Maurice Watson, Hofstra point guard Juan’ya Green and Duke forward Amile Jefferson. The games at 10th and Olney have become annual rites of passage for Philadelphia area high school ballplayers.

These great alumni have paired with Thompson’s vision and hustle to build on some truths of Philly hoops: Guys with names cannot hide behind the reps; players who can’t cut it will be easily exposed.

For more on the rest of the best summer streetball leagues around the country, check out our 2016 Summer Streetball Leagues Guide.

Photo: Steven Counts/Nike

The post Choose Wisely appeared first on SLAM.

So to help you get a handle on where to catch the best summer league action, we’ve provided you a primer below, including the best from the East Coast, West Coast and everything in between.

By no means are these all the summer leagues that are worth watching this summer—there are dozens more in cities across the country—but these are the most prominent, the most famous and the most important summer runs that we’ll be keeping an eye on in 2016.

Drew League

History: Arguably the most competitive summer league in the country, LA’s Drew League has been around forever, but rose to new levels of notoriety when LeBron, Kobe and Durant all showed up during the NBA lockout.
Where: Los Angeles/Compton, CA
Notable Alumni: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Stanley Johnson, Nick Young, The Game, Baron Davis, Klay Thompson, Paul George, Gilbert Arenas, Brandon Jennings
Website: drewleague.com

EBC at Rucker Park

History: Widely considered the OG of summer streetball, showing out at Rucker Park is a rite of passage for any player wishing to earn his stripes—and a nickname.
Where: Harlem, NY
Notable Alumni: Pee Wee Kirkland, Julius Erving, Rafer Alston, Earl Monroe, Fly Williams, Bone Collector, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Stephon Marbury, Lance Stephenson, Terrell Owens, Chris Brown, Sebastian Telfair, Jamal Crawford, Brandon Jennings, Ron Artest, Corey “Homicide” Williams
Website: ebcruckerpark.com

Dyckman Park

History: Now 25 years old, the Dyckman tournament is a true landmark in New York City. Kevin Durant and Fat Joe have already attended games this summer.
Where: Manhattan, NY
Notable Alumni: Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Brandon Jennings, Ron Artest, Tyreke Evans, JR Smith, Michael Beasley
Website: dyckmanbasketball.com

Nike Pro City DC aka Kenner League

History: The brainchild of legendary coach John Thompson, hundreds of former Georgetown players have dominated the Kenner League since the ’80s.
Where: Georgetown/Washington, DC
Notable Alumni: Allen Iverson, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, Arne Duncan, Jeff Green, Roy Hibbert, Josh Selby, Steve Francis, Nolan Smith, James Gist, Brandon Jennings, Greivis Vasquez, Walt Williams, Curt Smith, Otto Porter
Website: @kennerleague

Chosen League

History: Founded in 2002, the Chosen League has become the top summer league in Philly, an undeniable hoops hotbed.
Where: Philadelphia, PA
Notable Alumni: Kyle Lowry, Markieff Morris, Marcus Morris, Gerald Henderson, Wayne Ellington, Amile Jefferson, Dion Waiters, JaKarr Sampson
Website: thechosenleague.com

Seattle Pro-Am

History: Credit former NBA baller Doug Christie for starting up this league back in ’96. Credit Jamal Crawford for helping it gain national recognition.
Where: Seattle, WA
Notable Alumni: Zach LaVine, Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson, Isaiah Thomas, Spencer Hawes
Website: seattleproam.com

San Francisco Pro-Am

History: The top summer ball in the Bay, for nearly 40 years, goes down at the SF Pro-Am.
Where: San Francisco, CA
Notable Alumni: Stephen Curry, Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, Tim Hardaway, Jason Richardson, Gilbert Arenas, Aaron Gordon, Jeremy Lin, Dorrell Wright
Website: sanfranciscoproam.com

Goodman League

History: Founded in 1975, if you can make it “inside the gates” at Barry Farms, you can make it anywhere. Just ask legendary commissioner—and the man on the mic—Miles Rawls.
Where: Barry Farms/Southeast Washington, DC
Notable Alumni: John Wall, Gilbert Arenas, Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley, DeMarcus Cousins, Ty Lawson, Nolan Smith, Victor Oladipo, Gary Neal, Baby Shaq
Website: thegoodmanleaguelive.com

Nike Pro City NYC

History: Pro City plays indoors, but it’s still all streetball vibes, and NBAers are almost always in the building. Hence the “pro” in the name.
Where: New York, NY
Notable Alumni: Kyrie Irving, Keivn Durant, Nate Robinson, Danny Green, Al Harrington, Charlie Villanueva, Sundiata Gaines, Justin Burrell, Andre Barrett, Jeremy Hazwell, Gary Ervin, Smush Parker, Tyshawn Taylor
Website: @procitynyc

Venice Basketball League

History: Birthed in ’06, the VBL was all about “bringing fun back to the game.” They’ve succeeded.
Where: Venice Beach, CA
Notable Alumni: Sik Wit It, Bone Collector, Terrell Owens, Metta World Peace, Chris Brown, B Dot A Dot, Romeo Miller, Keith Closs
Website: veniceball.com

Nike Chi League

History: Whitney Young High School serves as the overcrowded venue for the best summer basketball in Chicago, where NBA talents take on local legends.
Where: Chicago, IL
Notable Alumni: Jabari Parker, Draymond Green, Will Bynum, Draymond Green, Iman Shumpert, Shawn Marion, Andre Drummond, Tyler Ulis, Kyle Anderson, Penny Hardaway, Tony Bennett
Website: nike.com/chicago

The Basketball Tournament

History: A couple summers ago, TBT drew the attention of fans and players alike after offering a $1 million prize to the champions. This summer, the grand prize is up to $2 million.
Where: Los Angeles, Charlotte, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York
Notable Alumni: Brian Scalabrine, Eric Devendorf, Mike Bibby, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Aquille Carr, Marshall Henderson, Hakim Warrick, Jason Williams, Jamaal Tinsley, Nate Robinson, DerMarr Johnson, Royce White
Website: thetournament.com

For more info on BODYARMOR, click here.

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Be on the look out for more stories coming about this league. Peep the video below that’s filled with other highlights too.

The post Recap from Opening Night of the Chosen League (VIDEO) appeared first on SLAM.

Last year’s champ, Worm, is all set to defend his title this Saturday in Japan, in an attempt to be FC21’s first ever back-to-back winner.

Check out the flyers for this Saturday’s festivities below and follow Bob on Twitter for more info.

The post Full Court 21 Tourney Hits Japan and Poland on Saturday appeared first on SLAM.

Kristaps Porzingis, hooping with shades on his face, dropped in 21 points.

#Antetolounbros_athens @Giannis_An34, @Thanasis_ante43, @kporzee & friends play basketball and dance the same time! pic.twitter.com/z89tVH3iJf

— Eurohoops.net (@Eurohoopsnet) May 29, 2016

#Antetokonbros_athens @Thanasis_ante43 won the dunk contest after this dunk! pic.twitter.com/d2XaBHuS7x

— Eurohoops.net (@Eurohoopsnet) May 29, 2016

Over 5,000 fans showed up for the outdoor exhibition.

Per the AP (via Eurohoops):

Played in an open court in Greece’s largest public high school, the “Antetokounbros Streetball Event” ended 123-123. No overtime was played.

 

Porzingis scored 21 points but was overshadowed by team member Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Giannis’ older brother, who scored 69. The two had played for a few games together last season, when Thanasis was signed by the Knicks on a 10-day contract. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the other team with 64 points. The other players were a mixture of veteran pros and amateurs.

 

On Saturday, Porzingis and the Antetonkoumpo brothers were given a private tour of the Acropolis Museum.

The post Giannis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo Combined for 133 Points in Streetball Game appeared first on SLAM.

Video courtesy of Inside Streetball

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Atlanta is up next, beginning in May. Then New York City and the rest of the world will get to hop into the Full Court 21 action in June.

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After two years starting for Providence, concluding with an epic performance in the ’97 NCAA Tournament, Shammgod left early for the NBA. Buried on the Wizards bench behind his mentor Rod Strickland, Sham would eventually take his talents overseas. Today many hoops purists (especially from NY) wonder whatever happened to the PG wiz they nicknamed “Black Magic.” The upcoming mini documentary, The Ascension of God, answers that question and much more about a true NYC legend.

The post God Shammgod’s Mini Documentary Trailer Released (VIDEO) appeared first on SLAM.

The League and its broadcast partner TNT gave a non-NBA player nearly 30 seconds of airtime when they showed footage of the 6-1 Jordan Kilganon performing a reverse baseline dunk for the ages during a commercial break in the fourth quarter of the All-Star game.

The twisting throwdown elicited sideline whoops from Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony and others, which TNT cameras showed, and plenty of praise from the game’s broadcasters. “Where was he last night?” said Reggie Miller, alluding to Saturday night’s dunk contest. “We could have had a three-way tie.”

Miller was only half joking.

Previously, the idea of a pro dunker getting a primetime spot on an NBA national broadcast had largely been thought of as likely as the Lakers winning the 2016 Championship. Why would one of the world’s most wealthy sports leagues allow free advertising for someone not a part of it?

While professional dunkers don’t yet have official direct ties to the NBA, they are developing significant ties to its powerful business partners. Consider there would have been no reason to provide Kilganon a national platform on Sunday unless TNT wanted to boost his celebrity for a very obvious reason: Kilganon is one of 32 dunkers featured in a new reality TV series called The Dunk King that will air during this spring’s Western Conference Finals. The four-part series will follow the dunkers as they compete for a $100,000 prize.

That’s a huge jump from the $1,000 to $15,000 prizes which are the current standard in the pro dunking world. As Turner Network Television ramps up promotions for the show, expect the mass appeal of dunkers like Kilganon to skyrocket from their current social media grassroots to a new stratosphere. No doubt, TNT executives hope Dunk King will do for these YouTube sensations what American Idol did for up-and-coming pop stars.

If the show succeeds and inspires new seasons, then the idea of including pro dunkers in a Dunk Contest moves from fantasy toward legitimate business opportunity. It will, after all, be in the best business interest of TNT to tout The Dunk King and its stars in the promos of the actual NBA games it airs. And with Turner Sports a big part of a nine-year, $24 billion deal that will enrich the NBA, what’s good for TNT is generally good for the NBA.

If TNT really wants to take The Dunk King to American Idol-like heights, it should throw down another prize for the winner besides money: an opportunity to compete in the NBA’s dunk contest. This provides a win-win cross promotion for the NBA and TNT. The dunk contest would provide a ratings boost to the show, while the show will provide months of anticipation for the dunk contest.

Players as well as fans already support the idea of expanding the dunk contest field. Last year, Shaquille O’Neal posted on Facebook he wanted to see Kilganon in this year’s contest. Former NBA Slam Dunk winner Jeremy Evans told SLAM he also welcomes the idea: “It would just be a bigger challenge,” he said. “They have different tricks and ideas that we’re gonna have to prepare for.”

Most NBA players want to compete against the best in the world, regardless of the league they do or don’t belong to. They want this even though they know the pro dunkers have thousands of extra hours of practice on them. Kilganon, for instance, has apparently been working for years on a Holy Grail-esque 360, between-the-legs-twice dunk. Were he able to unleash that in a contest, it’s almost guaranteed no NBA player could match him. Even matching his signature “Lost and Found” dunk will be hard enough.

But notice almost all pro dunkers are in the 6-feet or under range. While every bit as explosive as the best NBA dunkers, they are nowhere near as long. That is, if they had the height of professional basketball players, they would probably be making a lot more money right now as professional basketball players. For comparison, look at the 6-5 Zach LaVine and 6-9 Aaron Gordon. No matter how much training Kilganon does, they can pull off stunts Kilganon can’t because he simply isn’t long enough.

Gordon’s “sit” dunk during Saturday night’s contest is a prime example.

In the end, pro dunkers and NBA high-flyers would each bring their own distinct advantages to the contest. For years, fans have waited to see how they will employ them against each other under the bright lights. After Kilganon’s primetime promo in advance of The Dunk King, that wait shouldn’t be much longer.

The post The Best Is Yet To Come appeared first on SLAM.

During a fourth-quarter timeout in the 196-173 West blowout win, Canadian dunker Jordan Kilganon hyped up the crowd with his signature dunk called the “Scorpion.”

SLAM featured Kilganon and his Dunk Elite crew during a recent trip to Morocco. Get familiar.

The post WATCH: Canadian Jordan Kilganon Throws Down Dunk Of The All-Star Game appeared first on SLAM.

That roster comes together to form Dunk Elite, the world’s most entertaining dunk team. In the exclusive video above, you’ll get unique access to the DE crew as they go through training camp in Morocco. Peep game.

For more, follow Dunk Elite on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

The post Behind-the-Scenes at Dunk Elite Training Camp in Morocco (VIDEO) appeared first on SLAM.

March, 1983. Mater Christi High School, Queens. My boy John Merz and I barely found space to cop a squat on the highest bleacher row at the standing-room only crowd for the Wheelchair Classic (NYC’s premier high school all-star game in that era). Billy Donovan (yes, same one that won two consecutive national titles at U of Florida and now coaches the OKC Thunder) crossed a dude up at half court, and the crowd lost their minds. Donovan proceeded to dribble past his defender, then dished to the wing. Was a really simple moment, but a disco handle has always been so appreciated—revered even—in New York, that the crowd gave the authentic “Ooh!” love which is embedded in our culture.

Shortly after, the crowd erupted, and everyone in the stands was on their feet. Wasn’t after a dunk, or having anything to do with the players on the court. John and I tried to see what was happening through the bodies, and when I finally caught view, I too was in awe…

Standing at the doorway wearing a black Gauchos squad jacket (left open to show off his dookey link with his “Pac Man” nickname on it) was the nation’s No. 1 recruit, Dwayne “Pearl” Washington. The MVP of the McDonald’s High School All-American Game had averaged 35 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists per game his senior year at perennial powerhouse Boys & Girls High. I’d never seen him play, had only heard word on the street, as in heavy word. We were all in for a show…

“Pearl showed up to King Towers on a motorcycle with a fly-ass girl on the back,” recalled Arnold “A Train” Bernard, who was inspired as a kid by Washington. “He drove right to half court, parked it, dropped 55 points, then left. That’s some real legend shit. I wanted to be just like him!” [Bernard went on win the ’87 city and state chip and play for the Globetrotters.]

“Pearl played possessed,” shared “The Amazing Gumby,” who announced at King Towers, Harlem’s hottest tournament of the early ‘80s. “He was the most exciting. I’d call him the ‘Quiet Slasher’ cuz he’d drop 20 points—on his off days. He performed.”

Washington’s playground exploits transcended Harlem. The Brooklyn product was one of those rare players that drew a crowd, in every borough. No matter where he played, people followed.

“We were playing against Pearl at Soul In The Hole in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn,” shared former Chicago Bulls guard “Sudden” Sam Worthen. “He shook four guys in the lane, then dunked on our big man. The game was over! Literally. People ran on the court, and then every single person in the crowd left. It was only the third quarter!” The story sounded too incredible to me, especially since the 6-2 guard wasn’t known for having hops, so I asked Sam if he was embellishing. “The rims were low at Soul In The Hole. That meant our big man was taller, too! It happened.”

Washington was raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn, a tough neighborhood that in the ‘70s produced future NBA star World B. Free as well as playground legend James “Fly” Williams, who averaged 28.5 points per game at Austin Peay State. “I remember Pearl as a kid, he’d watch us at ‘The Hole’ [a legendary pick-up court],” Fly shared with me. “Jocko coached him at Seth Low Community Center.” Greg “Jocko” Jackson, a former New York Knick, was the coach of the Brownsville Jets, and Fly credits him for teaching Pearl his handle. “The gym was the size of a closet! Jocko had him doing dribbling drills in there, then Pearl would go out to the park and practice on his own.”

“Fly had the ‘geezer’ [jump shot]; I had the crossover!” shared Pearl in an interview on MSG’s “Summerball” program.

If there’s a family tree of today’s enormous popularity of fancy ball handling in the pros, you could easily trace Steph Curry back to Allen Iverson, Iverson to Tim Hardaway, and Hardaway to Washington. Basically, Washington was the first to expose a style, which became a complete shift in the way basketball is played.

“I saw Pearl Washington one day, and I said ‘Wow, I wanna start practicing that move,” Tim Hardaway once shared in a New York Times interview. Hardaway was referring to watching Washington’s Syracuse days 1983-86, when the Big East was the best conference (national titles in ’84 and ’85), and the Orangemen were finally making the permanent transition to consistent national powerhouse, led by their BK point guard with the whip whop.

“Pearl ushered in the era of making kids fall down,” Pete Nice, former Def Jam recording artist and Empire State Games teammate of Washington’s, recounted to me. “He was so low to the ground, he looked like a penguin! But he was also so quick. He was making guards trying to defend him look absolutely stupid.”

To be fair, Pearl wasn’t the first NY guard with a handle. Pablo Robertson, Frank “Shake and Bake” Streety, “Pee Wee” Kirkland, Arnold Dugger, and Alonzo “Superkid” Jackson all were crowd pleasers out in the hood before him. You can put Nate “Tiny” Archibald in that category as well, as he did it at Rucker and in the NBA. But none of them, not even Tiny, had the stage set the way the Pearl had it. Most people rarely saw Archibald’s Kansas City Kings play live on television. ESPN didn’t exist in the ‘70s. There was no internet, YouTube, and the local news barely showed highlights, and if they did, it certainly wasn’t the type of moves that were celebrated and applauded out in the parks.

Pearl’s timing was impeccable, though. Basketball as a spectator sport was on the rise as a result of Bird and Magic’s entry into the NBA in ’79. College basketball was blowing up in the ‘80s, receiving bigger contracts, more exposure, and the Big East Conference increased their games televised. On top of that, Syracuse had recently moved to the Carrier Dome, with the capacity of a football stadium for some 5-on-5 bball. So all eyes were on Pearl as a freshman in ’83-’84. If he was going to do something special, it wasn’t going to wind up the stuff of urban folklore passed on by storytellers. As Gil Scott-Heron sung, “The Revolution Will Be Televised!”

March 1984. I was home watching the Big East Conference Championship—Syracuse versus Georgetown at the Garden. The Hoyas were led by seven-foot First Team All-American Pat Ewing, and had the No. 1-ranked defense in the country, anchored by guard Gene Smith. Smith was so notorious on D, after graduation he was drafted by the NFL’s Oakland Raiders, even though he didn’t play football. I don’t remember who won. I still don’t care. [The Hoyas won in OT! —Ed.] Pearl went into official Pac Man mode, gobbling up multiple defenders in his path like it was a video arcade game. Like he had done at Seth Low, the Hole, King Towers, Boys High, and the Wheelchair. Except he was doing it on national television, high-rated viewership steez at that. NYC playground freak handle style fully exposed. Finally.

On one particular play, Pearl put the deception mode on ultra, did an in-and-out dribble, another herky jerk, added some paprika, and boom bong. Gene Smith went down. The elation! I had never seen a player drop a defender like that. Poof. Washington ran back down the court smiling. He knew.

If that happened today, the move would appear on @breakinganklesdaily or whatever on Instagram in seconds. Back then, the announcers made no mention of the brilliance. The producer in the truck didn’t run a replay. But everyone in the hood and beyond took notice. The next day, we all rejoiced at the park while waiting for next: “Yo, you see Pearl break Gene Smith? YO!” It was the talk of the town the way you couldn’t escape Dave Chappelle’s Rick James skit once it aired.

Pearl didn’t just take defenders off the dribble and score. He embarrassed them. He did this on the open court as well as in a half court stationary set. Coach Boehiem didn’t hold him back. Isiah Thomas did not have that freedom at Indiana U. Earl Monroe didn’t have the cameras on him when he was with the Baltimore Bullets. So basically, Pearl Washington was exposing playground ball handling style in an unprecedented manner. For that reason and reason alone, he is deserving of the title LEGEND (YES, AND IN ALL CAPS, MAN)!

“Pearl had more shakes than Tom Carvel [a local NYC ice cream shop], and more spin cycles than Maytag,” legendary HS scout Tom Konchalski told me. “He is one of the great high school guards in the history of New York City basketball.”

Unfortunately, Pearl recently had a brain tumor relapse. There is a fundraiser to help with the health care costs. Find out more here, and please spread the word.

Photo courtesy of Pete Nice

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See below for tour schedule and registration details from the event organizers:

Two time WNBA All-star, 2014 Most Improved Player, Skylar Diggins, has launched her 2^nd annual “Shoot 4 the Sky Basketball Tour.” The Basketball tour has expanded to 14 US cities designed to challenge all levels of competitive basketball. The “Shoot 4 the Sky Basketball Tour” includes influences from Skylars’ own training regimen, experiences and lessons learned from her career thus far. Participants experience drills and training techniques that Skylar presently uses to help improve her skills and help her lead a positive and healthy lifestyle.

 

Register For Shoot 4 the Sky Camp: http://www.shoot4thesky.com/skylar-diggins-basketball-camp-tour/register/

 

Shoot For The Sky Camp Tour Schedule

November 14, 2015 — Shoot for the Sky Camp in Chicago, IL

November 15, 2015 — Shoot for the Sky Camp in South Bend, IN

December 12, 2015 — Shoot for the Sky Camp in Louisville, KY  

December 13, 2015 — Shoot for the Sky Camp in Indianapolis, IN 

January 9, 2016 — Shoot for the Sky Camp in Cleveland, OH 

January 10, 2016 — Shoot for the Sky Camp in Detroit, MI

January 16, 2016 — Shoot for the Sky Camp in New York, NY

January 17, 2016 — Shoot for the Sky Camp in Washington, D.C.

February 6-7, 2016 — Shoot for the Sky Camp in Los Angeles, CA

February 27-28, 2016 — Shoot for the Sky Camp in Portland, OR

March 20, 2016 — Shoot for the Sky Camp in Houston, TX

April 2, 2016 — Shoot for the Sky Camp in Indianapolis, IN

April 9, 2016 — Shoot for the Sky Camp in Tampa, FL

April 23, 2016 — Shoot for the Sky Camp in Dallas, TX

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The Gardiner Foundation is known for its annual basketball tournament, held every year in St. James Park in the Kingsbridge section of The Bronx, NY. This past summer, the foundation hosted its 10^th annual tournament, which is hosted in memory of six of Gardiner’s family members, whose lives were lost in a terrible car accident on The Bronx River Parkway. Through the tournament, the foundation has donated over 1,500 backpacks filled with school supplies and has given away 32 college scholarships to students from within the community, who in some cases would not have had the chance to pay for college without assistance from the Gardiner Foundation.

As much as he has already given, however, there’s always been room for more in Gardiner’s eyes.

With the tournament being a positive influence in the community, he then went on to start the annual turkey giveaway, where he has since given away 1,500 turkeys and meals out to community members who otherwise would not have enjoyed any type of Thanksgiving meal.

Of course, the efforts of Gardiner have not gone unnoticed.

Many have seen what Gardiner has done for his community and are inspired to not only help him with his community outreach, but also to do the same within their own communities. Jeff Korek, a friend of Gardiner and a lawyer of Gersowitz, Libo & Korek, P.C. has joined forces with Gardiner in his efforts to uplift the community. Through Korek, Lawyertime.com has been working with the Gardiner Family since 2009.

Korek isn’t the only one inspired by Gardiner’s efforts.

This year, Gardiner had some extra assistance at the turkey giveaway. Two high school basketball teams from Nassau County came all the way to The Bronx to help make the day of different families and members of the community, and spread some holiday cheer. The girls’ basketball team from Oyster Bay High and the girls’ basketball team from Freeport High, along with head coaches Sandy Rossen and Meredith Jones (head coaches of Oyster Bay and Freeport, respectively) came out to show support and do their small part to help make strangers’ Thanksgiving a little better.

Volunteers and sponsors of the Gardiner foundation, such as Norah Grady, Sylvie Gaeckler, and Jeff Korek and his family were also in attendance and assisted in serving food to families. The Chief of Staff of Councilman Fernando Cabrera’s office, Greg Faulkner, was also in attendance. A representative from Councilman Cabrera’s office handed out citations to Dexter Gardiner and some of the volunteers, as well as to some of the sponsors of the foundation.

Dexter Gardiner and his team made their way into the local churches and housing projects to help those in need. Several hundred people were lined up around St. James Park to check in with the volunteers and collect their turkeys from the back of Gardiner’s rented U-Haul truck. Gardiner built the foundation upon his family’s legacy of helping people who are in need, and carries to people who have suffered similar losses by leading community outreach initiatives just like this turkey giveaway. Through hoops, Gardiner continues to dish out clutch assists to his community in hopes that his efforts will be the catalyst to help spread love and unity in much needed times.

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With a starting five comprised of painters and photographers Maxime Hilaire, Jon Lopez, Pel, James Thigpen Jr., and Taha Clayton, Victory Lap held court by displaying each of the artist’s finest works, inspired by the game we all love. The gallery was filled with a myriad of pieces that captured various facets of the game. From shots of the playground, that many consider to be the true essence of the game; to more intricate pieces with greater meaning, every level of fan of art could enter the room and relate to at least one of the pieces on display.

Be sure to visit the Victory Lap website for more updates and look out for their 2nd Annual Ball Is Life Exhibit coming in 2016.

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The crowd at Chicago’s Seward Park was larger, there were more teams, including several regional qualifiers—Houston, Oklahoma, Memphis, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Detroit—all vying for the chance to be crowned national champs and garner a spot in the FIBA 3×3 World Tour in September in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

There were even dual hosts as Chicago’s own Hustle Simmons and Young Wayne provided the play-by-play, jumping from one game to the next and roasting everyone they saw fit. While the focus was rightfully on the action on the court, both Simmons and Wayne need to be commended for their day-long verbal endurance.

The New Orleans Pelicans’ Anthony Davis arrived to host the finals looking noticeably fuller after adding over 10 pounds of muscle in the summer.

There wasn’t a shortage of action once the games kicked off. For nearly 10 hours, teams battled through temperatures that neared 90 degrees and refs who allowed physical play, which only added to the intensity of each game. The competition was also beefed up from last year, as many players had played some form of pro basketball, a few even having some D-League experience.

Indiana native Kenny Edward, who was dubbed “Angry Man” by Young Wayne, took home the dunk contest in easy fashion with an array of dunks that exhibited sheer power and athleticism, capping off his performance with a windmill while jumping over the head of one of his Indy teammates.

Coming off of the confidence of last year’s win and having the hometown crowd on their side, Solid Gold—consisting of Emmanuel Little, JaMarcus Ellis, Al Stewart and Chris Singletary—was all business, even with missing a huge part of their team in 6-8, 285-pound forward De’Andre Thomas, who was forced to watch and cheer his team on from the sidelines because of surgery to repair a left patellar tendon. Singletary stepped right into Thomas’ role as the team’s dominant inside force and the team didn’t miss a beat in getting back to the championship game.

Their opponent would be team All Work No Play, who made the trek all the way from Minnesota the night before and gave everyone fits with their quick-hitting offensive strategy.

While Solid Gold would be tested throughout the tilt, their inside-out attack would prove too overwhelming and they managed to stave off All Work No Play by one basket to remain reigning champs.

“This year the competition was great—it was hot,” said Little. “Adding teams from other cities stepped up the level of play, but we had this!”

Next year’s tournament should be even bigger and just as competitive, as there are sure to be different regions added with players anxious to prove themselves and rep their city.

“Who doesn’t love basketball? I think that’s the easiest ways to get guys closer together,” Davis said. “Whether they’re enemies, basketball can bring everyone together, and this tournament proves that. That’s why I wanted to do this. Last year, it was a great turnout. This year, it was even better with more players. It was a great atmosphere.”

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“Kool DJ Red Alert”, the second Staff DJ after Pete DJ Jones, performed for us live. There was a marching band. NBA Cares did a clinic and so did State Farm. Local restaurant Prime One 16 hosted a press conference and the player reception.

When you try and quantify or measure something like a basketball tournament and its impact over 50 years, you could contemplate whether to assess the exciting footage shown in some celebrated documentary in a film festival or a star studded line-up of NBA legends and streetball legends and their stories told on HBO or ESPN. For me, Holcombe Rucker, the man was life and death. See if it wasn’t for Rucker, I would have never been born. So I partied with these men like they were my family.

My father, Bob McCullough Sr, was guided by Rucker on a path of educational, career and life successes that were life changing. After a neighborhood block war was interrupted by police from the 32nd precinct, my father threw his weapon of choice (a hatchet) down in one of the 133rd street cellars. The police then told him to get what he threw down there and bring it back up.

He proceeded down and innocently came up with his house keys. A patrolman came back with a hatchet. Bob adamantly denied it was his. Left alone in the squad car while others were rounded up, he had a decision facing him; get out of the squad car and escape to his nearby home on that same street or stay? He stayed in the car choosing to take whatever was facing him.

This decision would ultimately be one of his best decisions during those young mischievous years. Bob would later appear in court, and have Holcombe Rucker stand up for him there. Rucker was a man Bob had only heard about because he saw Alfie Glover, one of the older guys that played for Rucker, sporting a “St. C” (St. Phillips) Jacket. This, other than his father taking him to see the Harlem Globetrotters at Madison Square Garden, was his first brush with basketball. Both former Globetrotters, Bobby Hunter and the New York Knicks/MSG were also involved in the Rucker 50 celebrations, doing displays and clinics.

Emerging a NYC top ballplayer, elected officials of the City and State of New York; Rangel, Diblasio, Perkins, Wright, Stringer, Rodriguez and Harlem’s own Council member Dickens honored this place because of a kid who almost never made it after this next hiccup.

Wiley College was Bob’s first collegiate experience. Wiley was the home of the “Great Debaters.” yet Bob’s New York pride led him to having two fights with big Texans who attended that school. Let’s just say Bob was considered the threat.

After getting home, former gang leaders wanted to fight him for coming back after making it out. But Bob had started working in the New York City Department of Parks with Rucker. He really just wanted to play ball. Rucker came to the rescue again, telling Bob he wasn’t allowed to stay in New York. Rucker sent him to Benedict College in Columbia, SC, where Ernie Morris would be.

It was here that his gratitude swelled. The ousting from Wiley woke him up. Considering how far he had come from hatchet fights and worse (they used to make pipe guns in the basement). It dawned on him after coming back that he needed to focus on his opportunity.

The Benedict experience was a fairytale. For those years, Benedict became a powerhouse in the NAIA, eventually being the national scoring champs averaging 101.2 points per game in 1964. Here he would meet my mother Mary before basketball fame, where they made a pact to be excellent students.

In 1965, his senior year, Bob would become the second leading scorer in the nation, trumped only by Rick Barry who would go on to win a Championship with the Warriors. Later that year, Bob would be drafted by the Cincinnati Royals, the team with Oscar Robertson played on. So to put it into perspective for you youngsters; it was like Kyrie Irving getting drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Big O was the LeBron James of that day and Bob, who averaged 36.4 points per game, (no typo) put it up like Kyrie.

March, that same year, Holcombe Rucker had passed. Bob knew Rucker would never get to see him in the NBA. Bob was devastated. Yet instead of being paralyzed, he would do what Rucker did. Serve. He knew the enormous stakes for guys like him who didn’t have a place to play pro ball. Each One Teach One was his effort to reach youth. The Rucker Pro League/Rucker Pro/Harlem Pro League/Rucker Pro Tournament would bring fame to men who all gathered for the 50th Anniversary of the celebration Rucker’s and Bob McCullough’s efforts.

For me, the life never promised is what I cherish, especially knowing my father’s past and the statistics of kids like him who don’t make it out. So on the opening night we screened a film highlighting The Rucker’s creation at the height of the Civil Rights Movement called #RUCKER50 because my life is lived grateful for 50 years of Rucker. Having lived 47 of which were never promised all due to Rucker’s use of the basketball a whistle and a stop watch.

Photos courtesy of Thomas ‘Junior’ Hickman, Valerie Johnson and Lamaka Opa

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The day started with host A.J. Calloway, television personality and one of the original co-hosts of BET’s video countdown show “106 & Park,” getting on the microphone and addressing the crowd. Calloway, a New Jersey native and an alumnus of Saint Benedict’s Prep in Newark, was able to relate to the crowd and received a warm ovation in return. The tournament pre-show started off with step performances from National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) fraternities Omega Psi Phi & Iota Phi Theta, and their New Jersey natives performing. Followed by them were the SHINE Tumblers, led by 12-time World Champion Power Tumbler Rayshine Harris and his youth group of kids ages 7-17, with whom he trains in Newark at the John F. Kennedy (JFK) Recreation Center.

The championship games followed, with the girls’ game being played first. The games consisted of a 10-minute time limit or the first to score 20 points. The girls’ championship game was played between The Sparks, coached by Newark native Jamie Sowers, and University High School. The Sparks team was composed of Breyonna Frazier, Blessing Ejiofor and Jabarria Brown, and the three players on the opposing University HS squad were Iyah Cooke, Tey Greene and Jihaya Chavis. The Sparks seemed to be in command early, going to the post and feeding Ejiofor to take advantage of the mismatch down low, but missed layups gave the University a chance to get in the game. Frazier took command of the game for the Sparks with the 10-minute mark soon approaching, but Cooke and her squad would prove to be the better team, scoring 20 points before time elapsed to secure the victory.

It was then the boys’ turn to claim the best three-man unit in Newark.

The boys’ championship game saw Central High School go up against “2EZ.” Central was composed of Hassan Ceesay, Haikeem Ceesay and Fajr Wilson. 2EZ’s team consisted of Jaleel Martin, Aljameen Smith and Nasir Mack. The two teams were going at each other all game, trading basket for basket throughout. However the Central team was extremely dominant on the boards, and that would eventually work in their favor and earn them championship honors.

Shaq and Mayor Baraka then brought both teams on to the main stage and presented the trophies to the winning teams. Shaq would not be himself without providing a little humor, jokingly requesting that the kids received two more months of summer vacation as he presented the trophies to the winning teams. Shaq, a Newark native himself, always gives credit to the Boys and Girls Club of America and programs like it throughout Newark for keeping him safe and out of the streets. Being able to give back to the youth of his hometown in the same manner was a huge honor for him and he was incredibly engaging with the entire crowd throughout the duration of the tournament. After the trophy presentation, Shaq signed autographs and held conversations with everyone around, not there as an NBA legend but as the kid who was born and raised in Newark.

“We always get opportunities to see young people play in and around the city in different tournaments and things like that,” said Mayor Baraka at the post tournament press conference. “But we don’t usually put a lot of light and attention on it and this gave us an opportunity to do that and it felt good to see Newarkers come out and enjoy themselves, and have a good time.” The tournament brought the community together as one, and it was great to see how far the game of basketball could bring one city.

“[The event] let’s people know we still have clean wholesome fun in our city, and there are people in the community that continue to be a part of Newark and try to transform it and make it better,” said Mayor Baraka.

The city of Newark came together as one to make this event possible: from Shaq and Mayor Baraka hosting the event, to people like Jennifer Kohl and Amiri Baraka Jr. organizing and putting together the staff for the event, to the coaches of the teams that played, to Rayshine Harris and his youth tumblers and all the Newarkers that came to support the event. Though it was the game of basketball that brought the event to fruition, it was the communal effort that made the event what it was… and that’s bigger than the sport itself.

The post Shaquille O’Neal’s Believe in Newark 3-on-3 Tourney Recap appeared first on SLAM.

Full Court Press combines on-court development with off-court workshops in life and career readiness, all delivered by former pros. Much was special about this iteration at Rucker Park, including the presence of NBA Hall of Famer and Bronx representer Nate “Tiny” Archibald.

As one of seven, Tiny remembers growing up starving in the projects, which blessed him with gratitude and humility. He stumbled academically in high school, but was surrounded by sage mentors stressed the value of higher education. Without that guidance, and being influenced by the 1960s, New York City and poverty, surely Archibald could have been another could have been.

But he dug deep into his well of potential and turned out a historic career with a 1981 NBA Championship cherry on top as a member of the Boston Celtics. On this day in Harlem, that’s not really the gig. Tiny is just one of the men who care—along with former pros Tony Campbell, Albert King, Sleepy Floyd and Johnny Newman—to embrace the righteous task of cultivating young minds.

Rucker and basketball go hand in hand like Jesus and Lala on the way to Lincoln. During our chat, I introduced Tiny to Jordan Barber, as he had not heard of the man or his story. On June 29, after attending an Entertainer’s Basketball Classic game at Rucker Park, Barber was murdered across the street, outside of his home at the Polo Grounds. He lived 18 years and pursued dreams of culinary greatness, but was stripped of his life while playing the role of peacemaker between two crews.

“Right here?” Tiny asked for reiteration after hearing the tale. The Polo Grounds Towers directly overlooks Rucker Park and the serendipity of the Full Court Press clinic being present on this scorching Saturday lies in the fact that mentorship, funding and basketball are three vital keys to help solve the pandemic of gun violence among our youth.

Here lies a tremendous thank you to the associations and people who make this progressive endeavor possible: The National Basketball Retired Players Association, NBA Cares, Leadership Foundations, Jobsy Wobsy, and the Rucker Park family tree. Tiny Archibald advises that communities need to re-establish connectivity between the elders and the youth. Full Court Press is an swift first step in that direction.

Chris Wise is a shooter from Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Learn more about his work on the community here.

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For the second year in a row, Team Solid Gold from Chicago, was crowned champion of Red Bull Reign. Saturday marked the end of the 7-city tour where winning teams from Houston, Oklahoma, Memphis, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Detroit joined 24 Chicago teams in the ultimate 3×3 basketball tournament. In the end no one could dethrone the 2014 reigning champions, Solid Gold.

 

The winning team was constructed of Emmanuel Little, Al Stewart, JaMarcus Ellis and Chris Singletary (who was stepping in for Big Man, De’Andre Thomas who had a torn ACL). “This year the competition was great – it was hot. Adding teams from other cities stepped up the level of play, but we had this!” Emmanuel Little. For their hard-fought efforts, Solid Gold earned a cash prize and a spot in the FIBA 3×3 World Tour next month in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

 

NBA All-Star, Anthony Davis hosted the Chicago finals at Seward Park where close to 10 hours of high-endurance, offensive-driven games were played. Team RJ White was a closely watched team in the morning pool as they had 2 female athletes who took out anyone in their way. In the end All Work No Play out of Minnesota, snuck up on everyone and earned their way to the final game where they came within 1 point from victory. Some of the most exciting plays of the day came out in the dunk contest. Indiana-native Kenneth Edwards was throwing down some crazy dunks and took the crown with a windmill over his own teammate. “I came here to win this and knew I wasn’t going back to Indy empty-handed. Wait until you see what I do next year.”

The post Team Solid Gold Chicago Wins Red Bull Reign (PHOTOS) appeared first on SLAM.

Never in any two-on-two or three-on-three tournament that I’ve watched, have I ever seen a coach.

Just imagine how disciplined Sidney Dean and Billy Hoyle would have been had they had some instruction. Not nearly as fun, but dammit, who’s stopping their streetball smarts coupled with the guidance of great coaching? Maybe Billy never losses Gloria.

I digress, though.

The Houston winners of the Red Bull qualifier, Team Glory, are coached by John Cherry, who has known most of his players for most of his life.

Team Glory, which comes from the saying “To God be the Glory,” has been competing in pro-am leagues and whatever tournament they can throughout Houston since the team’s inception in 1998 and have won their fair share of tournaments, all with Cherry calling the shots.

With an emphasis on aggressiveness on both sides of the ball, along with their experience of playing together, Glory is definitely a team to look out for once the Red Bull Reign finals begin on August 22.

SLAM caught up with Cherry to discuss his coaching, the qualifying tournament and learning to adjust to the tournament rules.

SLAM: You rarely see actual coaching in these tournaments. How did you go about becoming the coach for these guys?

Coach John Cherry: I’ve been coaching Team Glory for 17 years. My friends that I grew up with were all on teams. I can hoop, but I’m a big dude, so I could never get out there like that. I kept me and my friends together and we’ve played in midnight leagues, pro-ams and we win everything because we’ve stayed together and I’ve been the coach throughout.

I’ve had a bunch of different players on my team because they will come up to me and say, “I want to play for you!” Teams in pro-ams will have a team without a coach and they have a hard time playing with each other because of the subbing and they end up not getting along. When they see us, they see that we don’t argue about nothing. We sub, play together and play defense. When the Red Bull Tournament came, someone told me about it and I said I would put some players in and I told him then, We’re going to win. [Laughs]

SLAM: Coaching at any level is difficult because of the managing of egos, playing times and keeping those who aren’t involved engaged. How do you manage that on the pro-am level, where guys just want to show what they can do and there’s very little defense played normally?

CC: You’re right; there’s very little defense usually, but these are all people that I know. They’re not about to trip or go off on me because if you aren’t playing defense, you’re going to be on the sidelines. Even though we’re all the same age, you’re going to respect me as you would any other coach. My thing is defense. We can score easily, but defense is the key.

SLAM: How do you go about selecting a roster in a three-on-three setting because you never know what kind of team you can be up against in these tournaments?

CC: It’s almost the same as the positions you would have when it’s five guys, it’s all about the position. You have to have a point guard, a big man and a small forward. The one sub, he can either be a guard or a forward. The big man is going to stay out there, unless he is in foul trouble. That’s the way you’re supposed to look at. We had a strategy. Every team that played against us were shooting nothing but threes. Take the ball to the hole and score. If they foul you, go to the free-throw line. I like my team to be aggressive. Don’t be scared to get fouled. Go to the hole and get that foul.

SLAM: With the rules being what they are, was it hard to adjust at first?

CC: It was hard the first two games because we were confused at first. My big man, he would get the rebound and take it out and they would call traveling. I was like, What’s going on? You have to get the rebound and pass it out and then you have to go behind the three-point line. Once we got adjusted to all of that, it was easy because we were watching the other teams not take the ball all the way back, they go in for their layup and the referees would reward us possession. Then, once we found out it’s about how many points you score and not your wins and losses – it was one team that lost all of their games and almost made it to the championship—it was even easier. We only lost one game and that was by default because I think the table messed up the points and gave the opposing team out points. We would have went undefeated.

SLAM: How did the overall qualifier go for you guys? It seems like the experience your guys have in playing with each other was a big advantage.

CC: That morning of that day, two of my players backed out, but I have so many people on my roster that I called two players that quick and they came up there. They were like, “Let’s win this thing.” One of them stayed right across the street. It was hard at first because we’re deciding who to call and we call Michael and Darmarcus. We had to plug in two new players that morning. I had two other players, who I knew we were guaranteed to win with, but once the change was made, I knew we would win with the new two also.

SLAM: I heard that the team wanted to give a portion of their winnings to charity, which is almost unheard of with these kind of tournaments. Is this something you guys had planned on or something that came on later due to whatever circumstance?

CC: My players are the ones who decided they wanted to donate to charity. I was like, I’m the charity, give it to me [laughs]. I was just being funny, but I was surprised they said that too because how many hoopers are thinking that. They’re church going, but you don’t need the money?

SLAM: Looking ahead to Chicago on August 22, are you just as confident about your chances against the field you’ll be seeing?

CC: In Houston, it was 24 teams. Some teams were bigger than us, taller than us, but that didn’t mean anything. All you have to do is just play basketball. No arguing, play together and we’ll win this thing.

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Thanks to the Red Bull Reign Tournament, Team Ball Hawgs, winner of the Oklahoma City qualifier, is hoping to help put everyone on notice come August 22 in Chicago.

While this is the first time the quartet has played together, they know one another through OKC’s basketball community and all share the common goal of wanting nothing but to win.

OKC baller Michael Malone is no stranger to Red Bull’s tournaments and he might have more motivation than anyone competing.

SLAM caught up with Malone to talk about his team, experience and motivation heading into the Reign Tournament.

SLAM: With this being your first time playing together, how did you meet to assemble the roster?

Michael Malone: We kind of all knew each other from basketball. Oklahoma City has a huge basketball community; if you play basketball, you know each other. The team that won the qualifier is a little different from the team I have now. I had to pick up two other people. I knew the guys from playing in basketball leagues, college and other different places. We all know each other pretty well. This is just the first time we’re playing in something together.

SLAM: Just how was it playing in the qualifying tournament, trying to not only see what your teammates like to do and where they like the ball, but also, you have these rules you have to adjust to?

MM: It was definitely an experience. I watched the videos of the tournament beforehand, so I could kind of understand the rules and had a good grasp of things coming in. It took us a while to realize we didn’t have to take quick shots, it’s more about scoring, it’s a quicker pace. It took a while to get some good chemistry going, but our goal in every game was to score 21 points, which was the max. So we would score that and the rest would take care of itself.

SLAM: What were your thoughts on the format because for a lot of guys, it’s their first time playing in a three-on-three tournament?

MM: The format was different, but it’s high pace, so you get a lot of games in with the pool play. We had two rounds of pool play, which was, I think, seven games in the first round, four in the second and then we went to the final four, so you get a lot of games in. That’s one part I liked about it; it wasn’t just single or double elimination. Everybody got to play everybody. It’s definitely different than any tournament I’ve ever played in.

SLAM: You have a long resume and are no stranger to Red Bull tournaments. Can you just tell me a little bit about your background?

MM: I played in high school and I was All-State. I went to the University of New Mexico and went there until I was a sophomore and transferred to the University of West Georgia, which is where I graduated from. I played in the ABA, CBA, USBL an a couple of places overseas; Morocco, Chile and went on a couple of tours here and there. I haven’t really played anywhere in the last five years, but I’ve been playing in Red Bull tournaments in that time. They had the King of the Rock Tournament, so I’ve won the qualifier in Oklahoma City three times, went over to Alcatraz twice and Taiwan once with Red Bull. I made it to the Final Four in Taiwan last year and lost by one point. Four years ago, I lost in the Finals in Alcatraz and I’ve lost in the Sweet 16 in the tournament.

SLAM: Most people outside of OKC wouldn’t view it as a basketball hotbed, but you guys have your culture just like anywhere else.

MM: Basketball is big time in Oklahoma City. Football is the biggest sport here but basketball is big time. There are tons of NBA players from Oklahoma City. We have great AAU teams, so let it be known that basketball is big here.

SLAM: What was your motive for entering the tournament with the guys you selected for the team?

MM: Oh, I’m playing to win. Chip on our shoulder or not, I’m going to win. I think we have a great chance. My motivation is last year, I made it to the Final Four of the King of the Rock Tournament and I got a little tired toward the end and I lost by one. I hate losing and I couldn’t stand losing that tournament last year. They didn’t have one this year, so the only option was the three-on-three. I’ve been to the Final Four twice now and have been right there and I haven’t been able to get over that hump. The losing is my motivation. I want to win it. My mind is set on winning this tournament, going to Brazil and representing.

SLAM: How ready are you to come to Chicago and trying to get over that hump?

MM: I’m excited about it, I think about it every day. It motivates me and gets me up for my runs every morning and my lift sessions. I got a little more information on the run down in Chicago. I thought it was going to be six or seven teams and I found out that it’s going to be 32 teams in Chicago, which is different than the King of the Rock, where the winner from each city goes to the Finals and we all play each other. This year, it’s the winners from different cities go to Chicago and we all play in a big pool there.

SLAM: What was your strategy during the tournament?

MM: In pool play, the strategy is to score 21 every time because that’s the max you can score and once you get out of pool play, it’s time to play real basketball; lockdown on defense, offense takes care of itself.

SLAM: You’re going to be playing against the best of the best, which you’re used to, but why do you think this time could be different for you in getting over the hump?

MM: I feel like we have a very strong team with a group of guys that really know how to play basketball. We’re going to go out there and just do what we’re good at, simple as that. I’m going to post up, take open shots. We have shooters and just overall smart players.

The post Ball Hawgs Advance to Red Bull Reign Finals in Chicago appeared first on SLAM.

Fourth grader Bob McCullough, a pre-teen gang member of the Politicians, was raiding places at lunchtime, getting in fights every day and got arrested. His Saint Phillips Community Center (aka St. C) basketball coach, Holcombe Rucker, went to the 32nd Precinct…

“Hey Ruck, what you doing here?” young McCullough inquired.

“Checking up on knuckleheads like you!”

McCullough started doing his homework, became St. C’s top scorer, and in 1965 was the second leading scorer in the nation (right behind future Hall of Famer Rick Barry) with 36.4 ppg while at Benedict College.

“Rucker changed my life,” McCullough says.

In his years as an educator, coach and community activist, Holcombe Rucker helped hundreds of other Harlem youth get into better schools, using basketball as a tool for social change. Rucker’s most lasting legacy though was to invent the idea in 1946 of producing an outdoor youth league during the summer.

Believe it or not, one had never before existed—anywhere in the world.

During the 1950s, Rucker added college and pro divisions, and the very best ballplayers around participated: Ed Warner, the 1950 NIT Championship MVP for City College (CCNY) who weeks later led his squad to the NCAA Championship as well (the only team in history to win both in the same season); Sihugo Green from Duquesne, the 1955 NIT Championship MVP and No. 1 pick of the 1956 NBA Draft (ahead of Bill Russell); and future Hall of Fame inductees Connie Hawkins from Brooklyn and Wilt Chamberlain from Philly, just to name a few.

What Holcombe Rucker achieved was unprecedented and incomparable in any era. Ruck kept the game clock on his watch, score on a sheet of paper in his hand, and tournament schedule folded up in his back pocket. Oh, he also reffed! Meanwhile, traffic jams would form outside the court on 128th Street and 7th Avenue, which everyone in the hood affectionately called “Rucker Park,” to see playground legend Isaac “The Rab” Walthour dominate all the household names that tried to stand in his way.

Mr. Rucker laid down the blueprint for every organized outdoor summer basketball tournament/event/league, on any competition level that has ever been done since. He is The Godfather. The “Grand Daddy.” Not only did he create a platform for his community to enjoy the purest bball imaginable—for free—he also inspired generations moving forward to this day to want, or even better, dream, of one day playing in New York, outdoors, at the Rucker.

Unfortunately, Holcombe Rucker died of cancer in 1965. He was just 38.

A committee was formed to keep Rucker’s youth league moving forward, but without a pro division. McCullough, fresh out of college, had a different plan. “The creator of the Rucker was my surrogate father,” McCullough says. “I went to college and was drafted by the NBA [Cincinnati Royals—Ed.], all because I was a product of his guidance. He changed my whole life. And the pro division wasn’t going to be. I told [former St. C teammate] Freddie Crawford I will run the pro tournament.”

Crawford, the 26th pick in the 1964 NBA Draft who went on to play for the Knicks and Lakers, joined forces with McCullough. Imagine a tournament being run by two NBA-caliber players? What top talent would think twice about getting down with that level of co-sign?

In 1967, Crawford brought down fellow Knick Willis Reed, who was named Pro Rucker MVP. In ’69, half the Knicks’ squad, including starters Walt Frazier and Bill Bradley, played in the Pro Rucker. That very next NBA season, the franchise won its first league championship. Coincidence? Hardly.

In 1970, sportswriter Pete Axthelm published his book The City Game, which detailed for the first time to the rest of the world what exactly was going on up in Harlem, including the high-jumping legends of Earl “The Goat” Manigault and “Helicopter” Herman Knowings. The Rucker was no longer a treasured weekly community event. It was now on worldwide radar, and the stage was set for the ultimate explosion that took place the following summer.

In 1971, Julius Erving finished his college season at UMass averaging 26.9 points and 19.5 rebounds a game, but no one in New York had ever seen him play or had even heard about him. That is, until his first appearance at the Rucker…

In the immortal words of United Brooklyn coach Sid Jones (RIP): “My friend told me, ‘There’s a Rucker player who is better than Connie Hawkins and Elgin Baylor and can jump from the corner and dunk. They call him ‘The Claw.’”

Erving told the announcer that his nickname was “The Doctor,” and a playground legend, as big as there ever was or will be, was born. The NCAA didn’t allow dunking in that era, so with the crowd oohing and aahing to Erving’s above-the-rim assault on every play, even in the pre-game lay-up line, the Doc kept elevating his creativity to heights unseen in that day and age.

Erving went on to win championships, MVPs, scoring titles and dunk contests in both the ABA and NBA, and is generally considered one of the most influential basketball players ever. Basically, Erving was the Michael Jordan of the ’70s. And he completely credits his summers spent at the Rucker as the catalyst to his style of play.

How tough was the Pro Rucker in 1971? Erving’s teammate was Charlie Scott, who in ’71-72 led the ABA in scoring with 34.6 ppg, and eventually won an NBA chip in ’76 with the Celtics. With all that firepower, Erving and Scott couldn’t even win the ’71 Rucker Championship. The league MVP that season was Nate “Tiny” Archibald, who in ’72-73 led the NBA in both scoring (34.0 ppg) and assists (11.4), a feat never accomplished before or since.

Erving, Scott and Archibald all got buckets in the NBA, but in 1971, the high scorer at the Rucker was Richard “Pee Wee” Kirkland, a Chicago Bulls draftee who never played in the league but wrecked havoc while talking plenty smack at 155th Street and 8th Avenue. And the most notable scorer Uptown was Kirkland’s backcourt partner, Joe Hammond.

Nicknamed “The Destroyer,” Hammond’s rep at Rucker in 1971 earned him a try-out with the L.A. Lakers. According to legend, Hammond destroyed a young Pat Riley in a one-on-one, impressed Wilt Chamberlain during a shooting drill and was offered a contract, which he subsequently turned down.

That next season, the Lakers set the record for most consecutive wins (33) during the regular season (which still stands), went 69-13 (a record that wouldn’t be broken for 24 years) and won the NBA Championship. That’s how good they were. And they wanted Joe Hammond. That’s how good he was.

In 1978, Hammond scored 73 points at a Rucker game. Not even four-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant, who in 2011 dropped 66 at an EBC Tournament match, could break Hammond’s park record. Something special occurred in the ’70s…

“It can never be duplicated,” Butch Purcell declared. Purcell coached Erving, Scott and other Rucker legends in the ‘70s alongside future NBA analyst Peter Vecsey, and they won multiple championships. “Rucker came before West 4th, the Sonny Hill/Baker League in Philly, the Drew League in L.A. It was the only tournament in town. People came from all over the country to see.”

The influence of the Pro Rucker under McCullough’s direction post-1965 had layers that went way beyond what Holcombe had started innocently in the ’40s. The summer tournament produced future NBA referees and scorekeepers (some of whom are still active to this day), and became the first outdoor league that major corporate sponsors sought out. Major media outlets followed suit, including ESPN, who in 1980, their first year as a cable network, televised the championship.

The Pro Rucker even impacted street culture beyond basketball. “If you were involved in hip-hop or if you were involved with playing basketball, you had to come across each other,” Crazy Legs, the most recognizable b-boy the world has ever known, recounts. “Whether it be Dyckman, The Goat or The Rucker, there were always hip- hop jams going on.”

The Pro Rucker was also the first ever target for sneaker brands’ summer basketball marketing, loooong before AAU squads were bopping around the country. In 1977, PONY started handing out free sneakers from a car trunk, to the top players at ’55th. The strategy worked, as they earned quick relevance in the toughest city to crack for kicks. Rucker was the weekly showcase, the hypebeast.com platform but live, for hot releases people weren’t up on yet.

In honor of Holcombe Rucker’s contributions to Harlem’s youth as well as the global basketball community, the NYC Parks & Recreation Department officially dedicated the playground on 155th Street and 8th Avenue in his name. In Rucker’s physical absence, his loyal student Bob McCullough cemented his mentor’s legacy into the hallowed asphalt from 1965 until 1987, when McCullough ended the Pro Rucker and passed the torch, and park permit, to a young Greg Marius, tournament director of the EBC, which still holds court today. It was a kind gesture, one that would have made Mr. Rucker proud, since one of his favorite sayings was, “Each one, teach one.”

“It’s the 50th Anniversary of the Pro Rucker, but more importantly, it’s the 50th anniversary of Rucker’s death,” shared Butch Purcell. “Rucker brought the pro game to the youngsters in Harlem who could not afford to buy a ticket to see the Knicks at the Garden. And he did it for free.”

Holcombe Rucker is not enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame, yet his name is as recognizable across generations as any other in the sport. The game was birthed in Springfield but bball was raised in New York. Outdoors. In Harlem. At the Rucker. The NBA Vegas Summer League should pay tribute. So should any and every tournament, anywhere in the world.

images courtesy of Rucker Pro Legends

The post Uptown Funk appeared first on SLAM.

Grit and Grind is more than just a marketing ploy playing on the Memphis Grizzlies’ blue collar style. For most of the city’s population, it’s a way of life.

Sergio Kerusch, who hails from the heart of North Memphis, knows this from experience and happens to be one of the lucky view to find a way out.

When he and his teammates take the court on Chicago’s Seward Park on August 22, they’ll be playing for more than the right to be crowned national champions. They’ll be playing for those back home who work hard so that they’re not confined to their surroundings.

SLAM: Tell me a little bit about yourself.

Sergio Kerusch: I grew up in the heart of North Memphis, which is a low-income area; lots of people don’t make it out of there. My father kind of forced me to be around the game when I was young. I was the only kid that could play on the adult courts when I was about 15, playing against 25- to 30-year-olds, so my game has a street influence. I just fell in love with it from early on because it was all I knew. It was my way out. I had other friends who were selling drugs and I was dribbling a ball up and down the street.

Even now, I’m blessed to be a pro, going into my sixth year. Growing up, it was hard. It was the typical African American young male story; single mother struggling to pay bills and we had to find a way. Basketball was my outlet. Instead of coming home every day worrying and having to deal with things, I turned to basketball and I focused all of my energy into it. It paid off in the end.

SLAM: Talk about how hard it is to not get caught up in what your friends are doing and believing that the game could offer you something?

SK: I’m going to be honest with you; it’s tough, even today and the reason is because every time I come home from overseas, I see the guys that grew up with me and they’re like “Sergio, we’re proud of you!” It’s kind of tough hearing that because that’s my friend and I can’t hang out with him the same way because of what he’s involved in because it’s going to endanger me and my career. It’s always a struggle because you’re always going to love the people who were by your side when you were young and who were your best friends. At the same time, when you go to the next level, you have to make a decision on can they help you on your journey or will they drag you down?

I had so many good high school basketball players in my class and they just went down a different path. That’s why I’m so thankful for the Red Bull Tournament because I got a chance to see some of those guys and they got a chance to go back out there and re-live their dream. The tournament wasn’t limited to pro players, it was everyone. We had high school players that used to be superstars in that tournament. It’s always tough to see someone you used to ride or die with and just looking at the two different paths. That could have easily been me with one wrong decision, or one wrong move.

SLAM: With seeing all those former friends and rivals, did it give you an even greater appreciation on how you’ve been able to overcome your circumstances and use that outlet?

SK: I couldn’t have made it without God. That’s the most honest answer. Yeah, you sit back and reflect. You go to your mother and grandmother’s house in the old neighborhood and you’re like, ‘I made it out of this.’ You look at your old house and it’s boarded up and it’s a crack house now. It’s like ‘I made it from this to where I’m driving this and I’m living this life.’ That’s why I’m giving back, giving back to charity. Who would have thought the same kid that was outside scraping his knees on the ground, while people sold drugs behind the house, is a kid that’s now trying to help people the right way?

It’s a humbling experience every time I go to my old hood and I go to the corner street and I see all the same people on the street and they’re like “Sergio, we’re proud of you.” It makes you feel some type of way. It’s a humbling feeling and it’s refreshing. Like I said, I couldn’t have made it out without God. I was blessed. I’m not surprised how far basketball has taken me because I wanted a way out.

I had one of those mothers, and when you’re growing up in a single-parent home, you know what I’m talking about, where she would push the hell out of you. She was like ‘you’re going to do something different. You’re not going to fall victim to your surroundings.’ She was my driving force. She supported everything I did. Basketball wasn’t my only sport because she wanted me to do something different. But when I did get set on basketball, people would always give me the numbers of people who make it to the League, who make it to play pro and the odds. I would always say the same thing: I’m going to be a professional. I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

SLAM: What’s the basketball scene like where you’re from?

SK: Grind city, man! The streets influence the basketball culture. You gotta grind to get by, you got to hustle to make a living, to make rent. That’s the same thing with basketball here. We’re very tough-nosed. You look at a guy like Tony Allen from the Grizzlies; we’re like that in that we do what it takes to survive. We scrap games out, we dive on concrete for loose balls and that’s the culture. We get it done by any means necessary. Make it happen! Grind City! We want to be tougher than you. We’re going to fight you for every loose ball. Do you want it as much as we want it because we’re going to grind it out?

SLAM: How did you go about picking your teammates?

SK: Maurice was Gatorade Tennessee Player of the Year, went to Georgia Tech, 12 in assists, fifth in steals there. I played pro against him my first year and knew him since high school. We were both candidates for Player of the Year in Memphis. I knew him, but I didn’t know him like that. Now, he’s trying to give back to the community. He’s coaching and now he’s my personal trainer.

Eric played for Valpo, won Horizon Sun Player of the Year. He’s a Memphis kid too. I know him because he’s been my workout buddy for like five years. He’s playing in Chile this year.

We might have bonded as well outside of basketball, but because of the bond we share on the court, we know we got each other’s back. If you put us three in the same room, we can talk for days, best of friends. But on the court, we’re the most competitive against each other. We’re not really playing against the other team, we’re playing against each other because we know what each other’s capable of.

Even when we were playing in the qualifier, it was one game, where I told Eric I was tired and Mo said, ‘You better shut the hell up! We about to get that money!’ We have that type of commitment to one another and that pushing mentality to be better.

I put two guys around me that complement me well because in a one-on-one, I was always second for both years. So I wanted two guys that could compliment me well, which is two point guards.

I added my father because he grew up in Memphis, played streetball, German and very hard-nosed. He’s dove on concrete before, had to go get stitches, and busted his eye open. It was just pickup game, too! I wanted him for his toughness and experience. He’s a big body and he’s my dad. I wanted him to see what my life has become and how it is.

SLAM: How would you describe your game?

SK: I guess you can go to Google [laughs]. I’ve been blessed. My first year pro, I was one of the top players in Europe. I’m tough. I’m a 240 pounds, 2-4. I can shoot. If a get a smaller guard on me, I can post him and anything in between, it can go either way. I’m a big-body guard, basically.

SLAM: Where did the name Rocket Power come from?

SK: Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a big 6-5 kid. I love cartoons and when I was little, it was a cartoon called Rocket Power on Nickelodeon. Those kids were extremely gifted at sports. Just having fun with the name and the fact that we were all blessed to be gifted at sports from a young age. At the end of the day.

SLAM: Why will Team Rocket Power be the winner on August 22?

SK: All of these teams are great. I’m going to give you the political answer. I don’t think we’re the team to beat. I think we’re just happy to be in the same category as the other teams that will be playing. As a competitor, we’re going to have a chip on our shoulder because I know people will get to talking. It’s a lot of talking that goes on in these games. It makes you get real serious, like, Look dog; I do this for a living. Don’t come at me like that. [Laughs]

With that being said, we’re just going to go out there and have fun. We made our first goal, and now it’s about getting out there and representing Memphis’ culture, showing how tough we are and that we have some of the best doing this out here. We’re representing our city. It’s so much evil out here that’s going on. People are getting shot and it’s a lot of things with crime, poverty in my city. We just want to bring a positive light to our culture and just show the kids and other people that if you push hard, no matter what, you’re still going to have a chance to do something great. That’s what our team represents.

We’re not just doing this for us. We’re blessed. We’ve played pro, we have jobs. We’re doing this for the kids that are looking up to us and who want to see something good come out of Memphis. This is the chip on our shoulder. The Memphis community is that chip.

The post Rocket Power Advances to Red Bull Reign Finals in Chicago appeared first on SLAM.

The Red Bull Reign 3×3 Tournament is a battle of endurance and rewards buckets over everything.

Participants competing in seven qualifiers throughout the United States—Houston Oklahoma City, Memphis, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago—braved the harsh outdoor elements for the second inaugural year of the tournament, all for a chance to at the finals in Chicago on August 22 to be crowned national champions and being given a spot in the FIBA 3×3 World Tour.

With the field almost finalized, the winning teams boost a collection of local talent, pros and semi-pros, each with their own unique individual story and the collective want to be the last team left standing on August 22 in Chicago’s Seward Park.

Today’s spotlight is shined on the winners of the Indianapolis qualifier, Team Only 4 Family.

Given their name, it’s easy to assume the bond between the teammates, Chris Henderson (ABA, BDL), Greg Foster (D-League), Cory Wickware (BDL) and Kenny Edwards (ABA), is extremely tight. The name is also appropriate, as family is what they ball for.

SLAM caught up with Henderson to discuss his background, his teammates and how he feels they have a slight advantage over their competitors.

SLAM: To start, what’s a brief background on yourself?

Chris Henderson: I’m from Indianapolis, IN, and that’s pretty much a basketball state. My mom gave me my first basketball when I was 5 and ever since then I just loved playing. I played all four years of varsity in high school, all four years at college and then I played semi-pro basketball in the ABA and the BDL.

SLAM: Just how did you and your teammates for this tournament meet?

CH: We’re all from the same area, basically. In high school, we all played against each other. After that, we just became cool. Ever since we came home from school, we just stuck together and the chemistry was great, so we kept playing with each other in every league we could get in, every little tournament we could get in. We just wanted to keep building.

SLAM: How did you all decide on Only 4 Family for your team name?

CH: We chose Only 4 Family because what we’re doing and what we’re trying to do with basketball is positive and all for our families. If we win some money in whatever tournament we’re in, we always know we’re going to do what it takes to win and give that bread back to our family to help take care of home. That’s the most important thing to know with what we play for.

SLAM: How good it is to be able to use the game you love to help take care of your family?

CH: Everything that basketball has done for me has been a blessing. From just being able to really play, it got me a full scholarship to go to school and earn my degree. After that, just to be able to go to the ABA and the BDL; it means a lot because it’s cats everywhere out here chasing a dream and they might not ever get to be able to see it. I can at least be able to say that basketball has been able to open up some doors for me and I got to travel and see a lot of things and places I wouldn’t have been able to see without basketball.

SLAM: You really can’t grow up anywhere in Indy without picking up a basketball. What was growing up like for you?

CH: Growing up here is hard, depending on which part you’re coming from. We all came from the inner city, so we dealt with a lot of gang violence and everything that comes with that. So just staying out the way of that was so critical and basketball was that outlet for us. It kept us all away from the streets and having us in things we weren’t supposed to be into.

SLAM: Just how many tournaments have you guys competed in together?

CH: Three tournaments that have been worth some money. We did the Ball Up Tournament, the Red Bull qualifier and the Indy Top Four Tournament. Unfortunately, we came up short in the Ball Up Tournament, but we were blessed with the opportunity to get in the three-on-three qualifier, and we were glad to win that one.

SLAM: How does going through those battles and knowing your teammates games help in tournaments such as this one, where the rules are about putting the most points on the board as you can?

CH: It helps a lot because once we understood the rules and understood how they did the pool play, and that it was about scoring more points, we were able to put in a lineup that was just going to score points. Knowing each other’s games helps us out as we look at Greg as our leader. He distributes the ball, gets everyone where they need to be. Me and Corey, we’ll run around, be the shooters, do the scoring and knock down shots. Kenny, we know he’s going to defend the glass, rebound and get dunks. It’s tough to guard because we already know each other’s game. Other teams have just been put together, but we already know each other.

The post Only 4 Family Advances to Red Bull Reign Finals in Chicago appeared first on SLAM.

Man, was I wrong.

By the time I left the park an hour later, there was action on all six of the playable hoops, and I could barely muster enough energy to drag myself five blocks to the Franklin Avenue subway station. “Just a typical summer day in the park,” Chris Wise—a 23-year-old born and bred in the Ebbets Field community around the playground—tells me. Not quite what I had anticipated.

At Jackie Robinson Playground, I encountered an enthusiasm for basketball that even the most diehard ballers don’t see everyday. You literally could not get people off the court if you tried. I asked a high school kid how many days a week he plays in the park. “Every single day,” he said emphatically, “Sunday, after church. Every day.”

I guess the Tuesday I stopped by the playground was no different. In one game, three dudes were wearing flip-flops. When a pair of crocs nearly split in half, the owner simply tossed them to the side and proceeded to play barefoot, seemingly unfazed by the hot and tough concrete beneath him. He just wanted to keep playing.

That’s Brooklyn hoops, or at least in this community. Jackie Robinson Playground sits in the shadow of the Ebbets Field Apartments, a rent-stabilized complex that has been plagued with numerous code violations and dilapidating conditions. For basketball players, though, this is it. This is home away from home. According to Wise, there are no other accessible courts in the area, not even a community gymnasium. “This is what we have,” he says, scanning the playground he has cherished for years now.

As a result, you see a lot of the same faces in the park. Those faces form a close-knit family, bonded by a passion for the game of basketball. As I’m talking to Chris on a bench in the heart of the playground, he realizes that he forgot his ball shoes at home, so he calls out to a kid walking by.

“What size shoe you wear?” he asks.

“12,” the kid responds.

“Can you bring me a pair?”

“Alright, I got you.”

“Perfect example man,” Chris says, returning to our conversation. Virtually no one passes by our bench without stopping to acknowledge Chris, asking how he is and whether he’s playing ball today. Within fifteen minutes, I’ve realized it myself: this is a family.

While basketball dominates most of the park, there is also a jungle gym where young kids run around frenetically, diving through sprinklers and climbing little facades. It’s a fun, carefree environment that contrasts sharply with the often perilous and sometimes fatal environment that surrounds it.

On July 17, 2014, Chris was playing a routine game of 3-on-3 in the park when two shots went off in close proximity. “Imagine a stampede,” Chris says as he recalls the ensuing scene. Leaving everything behind, adults and young kids hastily cleared the park. According to Wise, shootings like this occur too frequently around Jackie Robinson Playground, and it’s time to do something about it.

That’s precisely why he founded the I AM PEACE 3-on-3 18U Basketball Tournament—a positive response to the gun violence that shakes the community. The one-day event was first held on August 9 of last year in Jackie Robinson Playground. “It was crazy standing in the same place [where] there was a shooting 3 weeks before,” Wise says, and “seeing nine different color T-shirts with this I Am Peace message on it.”

And that’s what makes this basketball mecca so special: the park is a safe haven—a place for youth to escape the drugs, gangs, crime, and violence of the Ebbets Field community. It is a place defined not by its shootings, but by its basketball.

This year’s I AM PEACE tournament is scheduled for August 8, 2015. Images provided by BlackMarketWares.

The post All Day appeared first on SLAM.

New Zealand
July 25, 10am
Trusts Arena *(Indoors due to weather)
Local Organizer: Glen Green, contact info.betterway@gmail.com

Toronto & Vancouver
July 25 (Rain Date August 1), 2015, 1pm
South Arm Community Center Courts
Local Organizer: Will Strickland and Steve Lee, contact fullcourt21canada@gmail.com

Los Angeles
July 25 (Rain Date July 26), 2015, 11am
Cerritos Regional Park
Local Organizer: Rob Hernandez, contact rob@bballjunkies.com

London
July 26, 12pm
Ducketts Common Courts
Local Organizer: Nhamo Shire, contact nshire@reachandteach.com

The post Full Court 21 Qualifiers Slated for this Weekend in LA, Toronto, Vancouver, London & New Zealand appeared first on SLAM.

The National Championship bracket is all set, with the quarterfinals going down on Wednesday, July 29 (7 p.m.), the Semifinals on Thursday, July 30 (7 p.m.) and the MDSC Finals on Saturday, August 1 at 7 p.m. Check out the bracket below, and title game recaps from each of the four most recent cities to punch tickets to the playoffs:

New York City

Sean Bell, the region’s overall No. 1 seed, capitalized early in large thanks to the post play of Kavon “Happy Feet” Lynch and the hot shooting of former DePaul guard, Cliff Clinkscales. The duo helped Sean Bell take a 28-16 lead with 6:45 remaining in the game’s first half. Team R2K/OOHWAY was able to cut the deficit to single-digits, trailing 37-28 entering half-time. The second half began with a familiar flow as Sean Bell came out firing on all cylinders. Their defense throughout the opening minutes led to a 16-point lead midway through the half. OOHWAY cut the deficit to eight with under three minutes left in the game. Clutch free-throw conversions sealed the deal in the championship win for Sean Bell. Playoff MVP Tyshawn Taylor led all scorers with 19 points, Lynch added 16 points and seven rebounds. Paris Horne scored 16 points, teammate Dwight Hardy finished with 13 points in the title loss. —Gotham Hoops

Indianapolis

Naptown was the better team for the majority of the first half and they had a strong hold on Team Heavy. At the 5:00 minute mark that all changed when former Kentucky Wildcat Julius Mays entered the game. Mays gave Heavy new life and as a guard who can play with and without the ball; his presence was felt the moment he entered the game. With his team down seven points (27- 20) Mays hit a monster three from NBA range off a skip pass to cut the deficit to four points heading into the break. Naptown went into halftime with a 27-23 lead and felt good about the situation. At the 8:44 mark, Heavy took its first lead (39-38). By the 3:00 minute mark Heavy was up 52-46 and was slowly starting to put their stamp on this game. The six point lead started to get larger for Heavy. For the last three minutes of the ball game Heavy was able to outscore Naptown 16-9 and walked away Champions. Playoff MVP Gary McGhee was the defensive anchor for Heavy throughout these playoffs—averaging 15.5 ppg and 9 rpg. —Guy Scott

Philadelphia

The last time Grimey and Danny Rumph clashed, Grimey won handedly. Grimey created a frenetic pace, and drew first blood in the championship game due to successive buckets by Hanif “Need 4 Speed” Edwards and Defensive Player of the Year, James Pope. Danny Rumph recovered and stopped the bleeding with a Semaj Inge free-throw and baseline dunk. Edwards acted as Grimey’s catalyst in the first half, pushing the pace, scoring and getting teammates involved. But later, Inge and Novar Gadson that led to a 16-3 run to put Grimey away for good. The embodiment of team play, Danny Rumph finished with five players in double-figures. Samme Givens, who was named MVP, led Danny Rumph with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Inge and Gadson added 17 and 16 respectively. —Randy Miller

Chicago

The top two teams throughout the summer would face off against one another in a rematch of opening weekend, as One Chicago and Wright Sports were on Ball Up’s center stage for the opportunity to claim big-time cash and local bragging rights in the championship game. At the end of the first half, Tony Bennett hit a spectacular shot from halfcourt to give One Chicago a 39-31 lead at the break. Wright Sports would rally back to regain the lead, as an old- fashioned, three-point play from Kevin Dillard and an Isiah Martin bucket would put them up by as many as five. But in a battle of two heavyweights, One Chicago would throw the final punch. Bennett took matters into his own hands, scoring on a finger roll layup to help cut the lead to one and buried a three-point dagger to help his team regain the lead. Behind the play of Bennett and Ellis late, One Chicago was able to cap off a marvelous season and win the ChiTown championship, 80-71. —Gavriel Wilkins

Regular + Post-season Awards Winners

Los Angeles
Regular Season Scoring Champ: Marc Wilson, Swag Champs
Defensive Player of the Year: Keith Closs, Future Legends
Regular Season MVP: Casper Ware Jr., Cheaters
3 pt. Contest: Mike Jones, Future Legends
Dunk Contest: Michael Purdie, VBL All-Stars
Playoff MVP: Leo Lyons, Cheaters
Championship Coach: Casper Ware Sr., Cheaters

DC
Regular Season Scoring Champ: Tre Kelly, Wiz Kids
Defensive Player of the Year: Dele Ojo, Lincoln Park
Regular Season MVP: Tre Kelly, Wiz Kids
3 pt. Contest: Maurice Creek, P.I.T.S.
Dunk Contest: Roscoe Johnson, Wiz Kids
Playoff MVP: Darryl Monroe, Team Madness
Championship Coach: Larry Bowden, Team Madness

Indianapolis
Regular Season Scoring Champ: David Teague, Run & Gun
Defensive Player of the Year: William McClure, Running Wild
Regular Season MVP: Tyrone Anderson, Kenny Kings
3 pt. Contest: Tommy Freeman, Heavy
Dunk Contest: Keyon Millner, Blaze
Playoff MVP: Derrick McGhee
Championship Coach: Robert Pointer

Chicago
Regular Season Scoring Champ: Stefhon Hannah, We Got Game
Defensive Player of the Year: Billy Baptist, Wright Sports
Regular Season MVP: Tony Bennett, One Chicago
3 pt. Contest: Stefhan Hannah, We Got Game
Dunk Contest: Karrington Ward, The Firm
Playoff MVP: Tony Bennett, One Chicago
Championship Coach: Rich Shumate, One Chicago

NYC
Regular Season Scoring Champ: Jordan Theodore, R2k OOHWAY
Defensive Player of the Year: Malik Boothe, Sean Bell All Stars
Regular Season MVP: Jordan Theodore, R2k OOHWAY
3 pt. Contest: Sean Armand, Skull Gang
Dunk Contest: Tyshawn Taylor, Sean Bell All Stars
Playoff MVP: Tyshawn Taylor, Sean Bell All Stars
Championship Coach: Rahim Wiggins, Sean Bell All Stars

Philly
Regular Season Scoring Champ: Rahlir Jefferson, 8 Eye
Regular Season MVP: Rahlir Jefferson, 8 Eye
Defensive Player of the Year: James Pope, Grimey
3 pt. Contest: Vinny Simpson, Can’t Be Denied
Dunk Contest: Jamelle Hagins, Chuck Ellis Workouts
Playoff MVP: Sammie Givens, Danny Rumph
Championship Coach: Tony Tee

Photos and recaps provided by Ball Up. See more at BallUpMDSC.com

The post Ball Up’s MDSC National Championship Bracket is Set appeared first on SLAM.

The post Stanley Johnson, Andre Drummond Dominate at The Drew League (VIDEO) appeared first on SLAM.

Washington, DC

Madness got out of the gates early with a basket from Cliff Dixon and then another from Andrew Washington. Determined not let Madness get too much momentum, Deontay Twyman (27 points) answered with a floater off the glass followed by a drive and score by Tavares Cooper. Madness’ bigs were controlling the paint and not allowing second chance shots which helped them jump out to an eight point lead. Lincoln Park looked out of sync for much of the first half as they rushed shots and missed defensive assignments. Madness capitalized off of the mistakes and pushed the lead to 19 going into the half.

The second half would not resemble the first. Lincoln Park went on a 21-4 run cutting the game to two with less than 13 minutes remaining. All of sudden, Madness became the tentative team; committing unforced turnovers, not being able to score in the half court. Madness and Lincoln Park traded leads for the last six minutes of the game with Twyman, Bruce Massey (15 points), and Cooper providing the scoring punch for Lincoln Park and Campbell and Darryl Monroe (23 points) leading the way for Madness.

With 50 seconds left, Augustus Gilchrist scored a lay up to help Madness pull within two, 69-67. Lincoln Park suffered an empty possession leaving the door open for Madness to tie the game. Campbell scored and sent the game into overtime. In overtime, Lincoln Park went up four points early with Dixon and Monroe answering the call to get Madness back into the game. The final minute of overtime became a free throw shooting contest. Twyman shot a three as time expired hoping to send the game into another overtime. No good. End Result: Madness wins, 83-80 and moves on to the national playoffs.

Los Angeles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m27G9HEqOlU

Future Legends vs. Cheaters With $50,000 on the line, the Cheaters and Future Legends took the court in front of a packed gym. Cheaters boasted an undefeated season up to that point and the league’s MVP in Casper Ware Jr. Future Legends, on the other hand, were posed as the sleeper team with talented players on both ends of the court.

As the game got underway, Cheaters maintained the first possession. With the shot clock expiring, Ware Jr. nailed a three-pointer. The Cheaters bench was louder than the entire crowd cheering on their teammates. Ware Jr. came back down the court and hit another three, letting his competition know it was game time. Jerry Dupree of Future Legends dunked on Cheater’s Leo Lyons something vicious, as if to say I know what time it is. Lyons gave some payback with a one-handed flush going the other way. Cheaters came out to an 18-9 lead and Future Legends took their first timeout. Lyons had an epic crossover, passed it to teammate Brandon Fields who knocked down the three-pointer. Cheaters were playing with such high energy.

At the half Cheaters were up 54-46 with 14 points for Leo Lyons including four three-pointers. Future Legends’ Mike Jones had 13 points at the half. Coming out of halftime, Cheaters put a dagger in the Future Legends early hitting three-pointers from well beyond the arc. The Cheaters went on to win 95-79 with Ware Jr. scoring 29 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Leo Lyons added 22 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 blocks. Cheaters completed a fully undefeated season going 8-0.

This weekend (Friday July 17 to Sunday, July 19) market champions will be crowned in Chicago, Indianapolis, New York and Philadelphia.

Chicago – Action starts at 2p

Indianapolis – Action starts at 2p

New York – Action starts at 3:30pm

Philadelphia – Action starts at 12pm

On Sunday, action will include both a 3-point shooting contest and slam dunk contest, with winners taking home a cash prize.

* * *

Each market’s championship team nets $50,000 and a spot in the MDSC National Playoffs for $500,000.

The first round begins on July 29, the semifinals are on July 30 and the National Championship will be held in Los Angeles on Saturday, August 1.

For more highlights, photos and info head over to BallUpMDSC.com!

Recap content provided by Ball Up (credit DC: Janee Hayes, LA: Lauren Jones)

The post DC, LA Champions Advance to Ball Up MDSC National Playoffs (VIDEOS) appeared first on SLAM.

For more information on the tournament, you can reach the founders at KThompson718@gmail.com or Terrance.X@gmail.com.

Photos courtesy of @BlueChipsClassic.

The post First Annual Blue Chips Classic Tournament A Success (PHOTOS) appeared first on SLAM.

As the local market playoffs continue, check out the highlights from the opening weekend of the MDSC, featuring cameos from NBA players like Nick Young, Tony Allen, Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan and Derrick Rose.

The Finals of the MDSC are going down at the end of this month. For more information, game schedules and updated standings, head over to BallUpMDSC.com!

The post Ball Up Million Dollar Summer Challenge Playoffs Are Here (VIDEO) appeared first on SLAM.

For more info, links to buy tickets, exclusive content and details on all the tour dates this summer, head over to BallUp.com.

The post Ball Up ‘Search For the Next’ Tour Hits Omaha + Kansas City (VIDEO) appeared first on SLAM.

“The SEED Project is developing the next generation of African leaders. We use education and basketball as tools to help young people realize their potential. Through this we empower our students to become the mentors and the role models for future generations of African youth. Together – they will continue to build a stable and self-reliant Africa.” – The SEED Project

Last Friday evening at the well renowned Dyckman Park in uptown New York City, some of the best young hoopers from Senegal showcased their talents under the bright lights of one of America’s most hallowed blacktops. The home team, composed of the Dyckman All-Stars, went up against a visiting Senegalese all-star squad that was given the opportunity to play in Big Apple through the SEED Project program.

SEED, which stands for “Sport, Education and Economic Development”, takes young kids from Senegal and offers them a better chance at life through hoops. The program finds American schools for the top participants to attend with the potential of earning athletic scholarships—supporting both the academic and athletic aspects of the initiate.

The SEED Project has three programs that they established in order to change the model of youth sports in Senegal and eventually around the world: SEED Academy, SEED Rise, and SEED Scholars.

SEED Academy is a top tier boarding school for high potential student athletes. SEED Rise offers an after-school sport and education curriculum for youth, where kids learn to use basketball as a tool to increase academic interest. SEED Scholars is a program designed for career and leadership preparation for college-aged student athletes. Participants receive internship and job placement support, as well as on-going visa and NCAA assistance.

SEED Academy has an immaculate record that includes 100 percent of their students having graduated from vocational school or high school and 100 percent matriculating to college or employment after six months of completing school. The opportunity to study at some of the top universities in Africa, the United States and Europe, and to become global citizens ready to contribute to their communities, Senegal and Africa as a whole is what separates SEED from any other international athletic program.

The SEED Academy is quite rigorous. It is composed of a top-tier high school education, academic tutoring and study hall, English classes and TOEFL prep, leadership development, basketball instruction along with team-based training. Additionally, students are provided with housing, meals and transportation. When dealing with college prep, SEED helps students with school selection, visa assistance, athletic recruiting support, and placement services.

The United States, Qatar, Italy, France, and Germany are just some of the countries where program alums have relocated to continue their education. Furthermore, 75 percent of SEED Academy alumni have matriculated to college (versus five percent of the general Senegalese population), 78 percent of SEED Academy seniors have passed the high school exit exam (versus 31 percent nationwide), and $5.8 million in college scholarships have been earned to-date by SEED Academy graduates.

This program has presented an excellent opportunity to players like Doudou Gueye, a 6-9 power forward senior at South Carolina State, Assane Sene, a 7-0 center who graduated from Virginia in 2012, and Mohammed Lo, a 6-7 forward who graduated from Toledo in 2011.  All three were among the names that made up last week’s Senegalese all-star team. They went up against the likes of Mustafa Jones (6-7, Forward, Central Connecticut State ’18), Adonis De La Rosa (6-11, Center, St. John’s University ’18) and Jahlil Tripp (6-4, Guard, Abraham Lincoln High School ’16), who were some of the local talent that suited up for the Dyckman All-Stars.

The Senegalese team got off to a slow start but eventually found its rhythm. In the process they even began to win over some of the local Dyckman crowd, with the announcer creating his own personal chant for Gueye. But there were moments when it seemed like the Dyckman squad was just one step ahead and was the more aggressive of the two. Nonetheless, the SEED All-Stars were able to hold their own.

In the end, the Dyckman squad was able to successfully defend home court, emerging from the close bout victorious with a final score of  51-45. Vince Franklin (6-6 Forward, Casper College ’16) was named the game’s Most Valuable Player after putting up 10 points. Sidy Sall, a 6-9 forward who just finished up at Christian Brother’s Academy, led the Senegalese team with 13 points.

The post From Senegal to Dyckman Park appeared first on SLAM.

SLAM is happy to announce a one-day tournament, The Blue Chips Classic, that we will be sponsoring with giveaways, coverage, etc.

See below for details from our man Kwame Thompson:

The Blue Chips Classic will be held at “40th Park” on Foster Avenue in Brooklyn on Saturday, July 11.

 

4 team tournament (each team will play two games).

 

21 and under tournament. (With 10 player roster).

 

1st & 2nd half will be 20 minutes each. (No running time)

 

Team 1 will play Team 4 and Team 2 will play Team 3. Both losers will play a constellation game and the championship game will follow.

 

First game at 12 pm, second game at 2 pm, consolation game at 4 pm and the Championship game at 6.

 

30 minutes between each game.

 

Every team receives t-shirts with tournament name bearing on the front and player’s numbers on back. (Will be distributed on game day)

 

Every participant will receive sports book bag with gifts inside.

 

A 1st Place Team trophy and an MVP trophy will be given out. (Customized MVP trophy along with player’s stats engraved will be given).

 

The 1st Place Team will receive trophy, sports book bag with extra gifts and special offers inside.

 

Teams cost to participate is $300. Each team’s entry fee has to be paid in full by June 30th. (Fee covers referee fees for each team’s games).

 

A live DJ will be present for entertainment throughout the day.

 

A photographer will be present taking player and team pictures as well as live game photos.

 

For more info contact Mr. Thompson at (347) 219-0848

The post Blue Chips Classic Coming To Brooklyn July 11 appeared first on SLAM.

For more info and all the tour dates this summer, check out ballup.com.

The post The Ball Up Tour is Back (VIDEO) appeared first on SLAM.

The launch event consisted of four games from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Largo High School in Upper Marlboro, MD. The DC market’s eight teams—each vying for a spot in the national championship in August—consist primarily of former college and overseas players.

The highlight of the day was Game 2 between the Drew All-Stars and Team Lincoln Park. Corey Allmond, who played his college ball at Sam Houston State before stints with Fort Wayne and Maine in the D-League, dropped 18 points for Drew in the first half thanks to a lethal jumper.

His hot shooting continued in the second half, keeping Drew neck-and-neck with Lincoln Park as time wound down in regulation. Lincoln Park fouled Allmond on a three-pointer with 8 seconds on the clock, and he hit two of three to put Drew up by a single bucket. Dele Ojo responded immediately by drawing a foul and sinking two free throws of his own to send the game to OT.

The additional five minutes played out similarly to the previous 40, with Drew and Lincoln Park trading baskets; the former failing to contain Ojo (25 points) and Deontay Twyman (26 points), the latter failing to contain Allmond (31 points). Finally, Lincoln Park broke the stalemate by splitting a pair of free throws with 9 ticks left.

Everyone in the building knew the rock was going to Allmond—the only question was whether he would put the exclamation point on an outstanding individual performance. Allmond used his quick first step to penetrate and float the ball over two defenders’ outstretched hands; however, it hit the back rim and fell out of the cup.

Lincoln Park won 80-79 in its first matchup of the summer. Aside from Allmond, Christian Jackson (15 points) and Jamarl Glen (14 points) were bright spots for Drew in the loss.

While Game 2 was the day’s most thrilling affair, all four games were close. In Game 1, the Wiz Kids overcame a halftime deficit to beat Team Madness, 83-80. Tre Kelley, former South Carolina Gamecock and current guard for Sigma Barcellona, drove relentlessly en route to a game-high 29 points for the Wiz. His free throws iced the game. Teammate Dennis Edwards chipped in with 17 points.

For the losing squad, Andrew Washington (better known as “Spongebob” on the DMV streetball courts) posted 23 points, while big man Augustus Gilchrist dropped 18 points and grabbed 7 boards.

In Game 3, Team Trouble took care of Team Baltimore, 78-73. Brian Chase led the way for Team Trouble with 19 points, and Koby Hicks, Jeff Allen and Derick Payne added 13 apiece. Velar Coleman (18 points) and Darnell Hopins (15 points) got theirs for Team Baltimore, but it wasn’t enough to garner win number one of the summer.

The first three games were fairly low-scoring, but the final game was a shoot-out. Jamahl Brown, Dwayne Jackson and Jimmy Kenkins combined for 87 points in a 108-102 Showstoppers’ win over Team PITS. Brown, a Clinton, MD, native and former West Virginia State guard, set the high mark for Saturday with 38 points.

Team PITS’ Rodney Clark (20 points), Wally Judge (20 points) and Armond Hill (14 points) kept pace for a while, but the Showstoppers’ three-headed monster would not be denied, as PITS fell to 0-1 to start the Summer Challenge.

Big shouts to the entire Ball Up team on a successful Summer Challenge launch. Largo HS was packed for the event—attendance reached 1,400 by the end of Game 4. A local barber gave out free ‘cuts next to the court throughout the day. DMV native and freshly crowned National Champion Quinn Cook made an appearance.

Related:
Ball Up Million Dollar Challenge: Los Angeles Week 1

Learn more about the Ball Up Million Dollar Summer Challenge here. The DC teams will return to Upper Marlboro on Sunday for their second week of games.

Photos courtesy of Ball Up

The post Ball Up Million Dollar Challenge: Washington, DC, Week 1 appeared first on SLAM.

Scroll through the photos above to get a closer look at the action in LA over the weekend.

LA Week 1 Standings:
Future Legends (1-0)
Cheaters (1-0)
VBL All-Stars (1-0)
Kings of L.A. (1-0)
DOBA Sports (0-1)
B_Legendary (0-1)
Swag Champs (0-1)
LA Soldiers (0-1)

LA Players of the Week:
Casper Ware, Cheaters (39 points)
Brian Cook, VBL All-Stars (26 points)
Charles Hinkle, L.A. Soldiers (26 points)
Jr. Lewis, VBL All-Stars (26 points)
Chris Telesford, VBL All-Stars (24 points)

The tournament includes six weeks of regular play every weekend through July 1. Playoffs featuring the top teams from other cities will begin July 10-12.

Week 2 begins June 2 from 2-6 p.m. All games will be held at East Valley HS (5525 Vineland Ave, North Hollywood, CA, 91601) and are free and open to the public.

Related:
Ball Up Million Dollar Challenge: Washington, DC, Week 1

The post Ball Up Million Dollar Challenge: Los Angeles Week 1 appeared first on SLAM.

The champion from each local market will travel to Los Angeles to compete in the national championship. The competition will air on ESPN2 in September.

Check out the full schedule and details below:

Los Angeles, CA (May 27, 2015) – Ball Up, the leading streetball brand in the world and home to some of the most talented athletes to play the game, has reached an agreement with ESPN to televise its first-ever “Million Dollar Summer Challenge,” a summer long basketball competition that gives six U.S. cities the opportunity to compete for $1M and bragging rights as the preeminent summer basketball team in the nation. The challenge tips off in Washington D.C. on May 30th and will air on ESPN2 beginning in September. Playing in six markets, the Summer Challenge will feature elite competition and allow local legends to become national champions.

 

This year’s competing cities — New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Chicago, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles — will put forth their best 10-person teams to compete throughout the summer. Each market will start with a launch event, attended by Ball Up CEO Demetrius Spencer, Ball Up All-Star players along with celebrity guest appearances. The National Championship game will take place in Ball Up’s hometown of Los Angeles on August 2nd.

 

Starting on May 30th, eight teams from each market will compete to represent their city. The regular season features six weekends of local play per market. Local playoffs begin on July 10th, when the top six teams will enter a single-elimination playoff. The champion from each local market will travel to LA to compete in the national championship weekend kicking off July 30th.

 

BALL UP MILLION DOLLAR SUMMER CHALLENGE OFFICIAL SCHEDULE:

 

First Regular Season Games for Individual Market (six game regular season schedule)

 

May 30th – Washington D.C.
May 31st – Los Angeles
June 6th – New York City
June 6th – Philadelphia
June 7th – Chicago
June 7th – Indianapolis

 

Local Market Playoffs

 

July 10th – July 12th – Washington & Los Angeles
July 17th – 19th – New York City, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and Chicago

 

Championship games

 

July 30th – Quarterfinals
July 31st – Semifinals
August 2nd – National Championship

 

Air Dates – ESPN2

 

September 16th @ 8:00 pm EST – 30 minutes
September 16th @ 8:30 pm EST – 30 minutes
September 23rd@ 8:00 pm EST – 30 minutes
September 23rd @ 8:30 pm EST – 30 minutes
September 30th @ 8:00 pm EST – 30 minutes
September 30th @ 8:30 pm EST – 30 minutes
October 7th @ 8:00 pm EST – 60 minutes
October 14th @ 10:30 pm EST – 60 minutes

 

* ESPN2 dates/times subject to change

The post Ball Up ‘Million Dollar Summer Challenge’ Coming To 6 Cities This Summer appeared first on SLAM.

SLAM City Game is full of features and allows the user to:

• Find the best urban courts
• Post pickup games / invite friends
• Find pickup games to join
• Post a profile with a pic and skills
• Get the latest SLAM Magazine news
• Check player social rankings powered by Hookit
• Get a feed of updates, photos & videos from your favorite pros and teams
• Get the latest SLAM Magazine news and updates on demand

The post Download SLAM City Game App To Find Pickup Games appeared first on SLAM.

The last three seasons I was playing in Beirut, Lebanon. When I first told people I was going to play in Lebanon, everybody looked at me like I was crazy. “Lebanon? Don’t they bomb there? The country is unstable… terrorists.” I heard every kind of stereotype you can think of. Long story short, I go there and have three successful years. Beirut was amazing – just great. Last season, we went to the playoffs and I led the league in assists.

Lebanon was so dope that my brother, George Williams, came to visit me my first year. He was only supposed to be there for three weeks, but he never left. He’s a personal trainer and celebrity chef in South Beach. He leaves everything and moves to Beirut. Everyone is starting to come to Dubai and setting up shop there as well. It’s like Miami and Vegas combined. There’s a lot of opportunities and money there. There’s a lot of Lebanese in Dubai. So my brother sets up shop there, and with my contacts, my girlfriend’s and the ones he’s made on his own, he has a nice clientele. So he’s moved to Dubai and just recently connected with a German doctor who has her own fertility clinic. They’ve partnered up and she’s referring a lot of her clients to him to personally train. The Williams brothers are setting up shop in the Middle East. That’s just the move we’re on.

My girlfriend, Diane O Sullivan, is a singer in Dubai at a club called White. I had an amazing summer with her in Dubai after my season. I went back to Dubai with her to train with the team there until I was to resign with them and go back to Lebanon. Well, the offer I got wasn’t adequate enough. The team had cut their budget from last season and it was a major pay cut I had to take in order to go back there. That’s when an opportunity came up for me to go play in Iraq, of all places. I jumped on it and took it.

For guys who are not in the NBA, we don’t get guaranteed contracts. You don’t have a lot of stability in a lot of these contracts as far as terms of your contract. It’s not a multi-year deal – most of them aren’t, at least. You’re actually a free agent every single year. Most guys just are. You’re lucky to have a multi-year contract. You tend to go where the money is.

So Iraq comes up, and my girlfriend is bugging. But I spoke to my agent and he’s like, “Listen, it’s in the safest area you can possibly be in.” It’s an area called Kurdistan. They don’t even consider themselves Iraq. They speak Kurdish. They are accepting of different cultures. So I feel safe there.

I didn’t even tell my family I’m in Iraq. I didn’t want my mom to stress. I’ve been in the Middle East so long that they think I’m still in Lebanon. My mom has no idea I’m in Iraq. My family doesn’t know. My sister doesn’t know. Only my brother knows. I talk to my mom every day but she doesn’t know.

I arrived to Iraq on October 24. I get off the plane and there was a team representative that came to pick me up. Team management told my agent not to worry and that I would be just outside of Erbil. That’s in Kurdistan, really close to the airport. He said it was only 25 minutes away. I was like, Cool, there’s a lot of American teachers and restaurants there. So I’ll be fine.

Well, my car ride was three-and-a-half hours long to the city I was playing in. Obviously, I know about ISIS being here in Iraq. They’re the richest terrorist organization ever. They tried to come into Kurdistan but the Kurdish army fought them off. So I know that this area for now is safe and there isn’t any ISIS presence here. My stupid ass decided to watch some videos on YouTube before I came here of ISIS randomly shooting up cars on the road.

I had gone out with my girlfriend one last time in Dubai the night before flying here, so I got off the plane a little hung over. The first thing I wanted to do when I got here was go to sleep. But here I am in this car and how am I supposed to go to sleep not knowing if the car will get blown up?

First of all, what ever happened to 25 minutes? It was three-and-a-half hours! We’re just on a two-lane highway going through to towns. I’m just like, Something’s going to happen! But that’s just the ignorance of a guy not knowing where he’s at or where’s he’s going. I get to the hotel and it’s solid. Not extravagant. You’d say it’s a three-star.

So I meet with the team manager at the hotel. They say welcome and that I’m safe there. I’m like, Cool – just make sure I get part of my salary upfront and that my wifi is super strong. And just let me know when practice is. We’ll go from there.

So we had practice the next day and it’s just 8 minutes down the road. During that ride, I see that half of the place is just war-torn. It’s to a level where you can’t believe people actually live like this. I’ve seen several families live in unfinished buildings. No heat. No water. No electricity. Like, there are actual families living in those conditions. The poor people here are actually poor. You haven’t seen poor until you come to places like these. I see poor everyday. There are four-year olds walking around with no shoes on begging for money. It’s been a humbling and eye-opening experience to witness everyday.

Traveling has been the best education for me in my life. No classroom could teach me that, and I have my degree. But no classroom could teach me these life lessons and experiences I’ve gained from traveling.

I’ve played in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Australia for four straight years, New Zealand, Sweeden and Greece. But when you come to something like this, it’s a real awakening.

You just have to know how to adjust to your situation and surroundings. Everyone that knows me, knows that Corey loves the nightlife. He handles his situation on the court but he gets it in afterwards. Here, there’s no alcohol. There’s no partying here. Which means my focus is going to be on basketball 100%. I’m 37 years old and still playing.

The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is the level of play. You can’t get frustrated with certain plays because their basketball IQ is just not that high. As a playmaker, all I try to do is make the decisions on the court 99% of the time. There’s two imports per team. Import means the American player. His name is Thomas Terrell. He’s from Mississippi. All I want them to do is catch and shoot or attempt to catch and go in for a quick lay up. Other than that, come set me a screen.

We have some of the wildest fans. It’s packed and they’re ready to get it in. I feel like I’m at Dyckman on a Friday night three years ago. They’re really supportive.

I actually haven’t felt at all like I’ve been in danger. This is probably the safest area in Iraq you can be in. We travel to Baghdad, but there isn’t the issue. ISIS is mainly in Mosul. We don’t play there. They had a team there last year, but they don’t have the team this year at all. So I’m not going anywhere, per say, where ISIS is. There’s just this whole stigma of Iraq.

As a true New Yorker – a mover and shaker knows how to stay low. You know, we can sense trouble. That’s just the sixth sense that we have.

One misconception that Americans back home probably have is that they would think ISIS runs the whole country pretty much. It’s not like that at all. If you really think about it, anywhere in the world have good and bad areas.

I’m living out my dream, regardless of where I’m playing at. I’m a product of the ghetto growing up in the South Bronx. So I know how hard it can be at times. And sometimes just a simple gesture by someone can make you feel better. So I try to reach out and get cool with some of the kids here. It just makes me appreciate how far I’ve come and how far I’m growing as a person.

I pretty much unofficially adopted this little kid. So one day I’m in the gym practicing and these little kids are always coming into the gym when we’re practicing. One of the kids has a skin disorder. I don’t know the proper name, but it’s almost like reptile skin throughout his body. His family is part of the Yazidi religious group. I would leave the gym and it would be cold as shit. I have my coat on and he would leave the gym with a t-shirt. He doesn’t speak English but I always see him, and he’s like, “Corey, Corey!” — always clapping. He’s so tiny despite being 15 years old. He will never grow. They say he’s going to die soon.

I’d see him around and always played around with him. I just love kids. And everyone knows I love working out with kids in the summer time back at home. I’m always in my neighborhood in New York talking to kids. As someone who made it out of the hood, I feel like it’s up to me to talk to them – just to give them that encouragement.

So this kid’s name is Zidan. So one day I said to him, Where is your coat? And pointed at my jacket. He just looked at me, said “no,” and walked away. So I said, Fuck this; This isn’t right. The next day I went shopping for this kid like he was my son. I bought him sneakers, socks, underwear, a good sweat suit, three soccer jerseys, a fleece hoodie, and a big winter coat. The joy in his face was just heartwarming. It was just a great feeling for him.

He’s definitely one of the kids that don’t live in a home. He would live in what they would call a home, which is one room with probably no water, no electricity and just mats on the floor. Thinner than a prison bed. I remember growing up in hood and the superintended would just put the heat on in the early night and then early in the morning. So there would be no heat throughout the night. I would be in the bed with clothes on, a sweater and a comforter. So can you imagine on the floor sleeping on a mat in a building, and it’s just the skeleton of the building? Just unbelievable. And this kid just smiles everyday and comes to practice. I thought this kid was Benjamin Button – I didn’t know any better. If I can make his time here better and make him feel good about himself, I’m definitely going to do that.

Sometimes I walk to practice just to really take in how fortunate I am. When these places went to war, some of these tanks hit some of these buildings and you see them crumble. Those people lived there. I feel like I’m in that show Homeland on Showtime. It’s just crazy.

The food here is really good, though. It’s well seasoned. So you’ll have chicken stew with potatoes, and then rice and peas on the side. They’ll give you soup and a salad. It’s a big spread. And you get a soda, water and some tea. And it’s all for like five dollars. That’s me going to a restaurant. I have a driver that takes me around. But I stay low, I’m no idiot.

Walking around, a lot of the locals just stare. Could you imagine like an alien walking through New York City? Everybody is just stopping, looking and wanting to take pictures. That’s how they look at me. Like, “What the fuck is this black guy doing here?” They don’t mean any harm, so it’s all good.

My first year playing in Lebanon, I played against my current head coach. I destroyed his team and we won. He remembered me from there. Then he saw me play last year in Dubai in that tournament that I got MVP at. He wanted me. Sometimes it’s the luck of the draw. Sometimes one door closes and the other opens immediately. My team from last year didn’t offer a good of enough salary for me to go and then this opportunity came up. It was almost November. If I had passed on this job, I would have probably been sitting on the fences hoping for something to happen. We don’t do that.

My girlfriend did not want me to come to Iraq at all. I met her in Beirut. She didn’t like me. I didn’t like her. But now we love each other. She’s beautiful, talented, and has a great heart. It’s been over two years. I told her I’d be okay. This was not in the cards, but it’s on the table right now. I’m going to do what I gotta’ do.

The post Live From Iraq appeared first on SLAM.

Scroll through the photos above to check out some of his art work displayed at Camaradas. Any fans of basketball or just of art in general that live in the NYC area should definitely stop by in December to take in the exhibition, as the four shots above are just some of the many impressive pieces on display.

Below, Lopez explains the story behind the exhibition and how he got here.

For more on his work, you can visit jonlopezphotography.com or follow him on Instagram @jonlopez13.

The idea of Respect the Shooter is a double-entendre of my affinity for the game, essentially. I grew up playing at the high school level and at the collegiate level. I played playground basketball all of my life. It was an analogy for me because I play my shot on the court as a shooter and then I play my shot from the sidelines as a photographer. So with that in mind, I tried to showcase that through the images that I chose for the gallery viewing.

 

I took a liking to photography after my grandmother got me a camera. And so overtime I started using the hashtag “respect the shooter.”

 

The basketball court has always been a sanctuary for me. When I started making pictures, the process—from conceptualization to composition to editing all the way down to the final print—allowed me to express myself in a similarly cathartic way. 

 

For example, the Dyckman photo. I was writing for Bounce Magazine at the time. I was living uptown so I decided I was going to cover Dyckman for that particular summer. That particular photo was from the 2009 championship. I put it on the blog and it got crazy hits. I ended up being published internationally in different publications. That one really got me noticed and changed my career path.

 

Then I also wanted to show love to some of the other tournaments I’ve been covering. Every summer, I make it a point to hit all the major tournaments in the city. I’ve built relationships with many of the tournament directors and players.

 

Bobbito [Garcia] started his tournament two summers ago. So one of the photos is a girl climbing the fence, so I called it “Forget the Scooter.” That was at Bobbito’s tournament in Riverside Park. It’s a dope concept because 21 is a New York City thing. It’s certainly played in other places but it’s really a New York thing. So for him to make it a full-court outdoor concept was really dope. And so to have that little girl climb that fence in that particular moment when the guy was taking a jump shot was pretty fantastic and captured New York City basketball at its essence.

 

Then there’s the one with Team USA doing the Shmoney dance after winning the gold medal at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. I saw this shot from the perspective that not many Europeans even knew what the Shmoney dance was about and what that celebration was for. It represented American basketball in many ways.

 

In general, photography is just a form of expression.

The post ‘Respect the Shooter’ Photography Exhibition (PHOTOS) appeared first on SLAM.

In between photographing environmental portraiture for ad agencies, magazines and the like, Ryan seeks out untold or overlooked stories. He’s the type of guy who’ll take pictures of people square dancing or men who’ve been drinking coffee together for decades.

“I’m trying to help tell people’s stories, and for me personally, it’s really rewarding when [the story is about] somebody that normally isn’t given attention to,” he says.

As he soaked in the vibe of Goat Park’s basketball court, the unique story he came for arrived—Ladies Who Hoop claimed a court for themselves. This women-only streetball run was about to begin, and Ryan had his camera ready.

He recently finished a month-long series on his Instagram, in which he posted one photo per day of the Ladies Who Hoop. SLAM talked with Ryan about his project, which can be seen in part in the gallery above and in full on his website.

SLAM: I read you got started with photography because of your dad. Can you talk a little about what aspects drew you in?

Ryan Nicholson: I’d always been around photography with my dad, who worked as a photographer—growing up in a house that had a darkroom in the basement, cameras, going to photoshoots with him, holding reflectors, that sort of thing. But I also saw the ups and downs that career had for him and wanted a bit more of a steady income and consistent work. I graduated with a degree in secondary education and American history and was going to teach and coach basketball…that was going to be the road I went down, and I lived it for about six, almost seven years…[then] I got really burnt out was ready for a change. The last teaching job I had was actually teaching photography at a high school out in Arizona, and it really rekindled my love for the medium. I found that I was the one staying after school, printing in the darkroom, using some of the equipment to get freelance jobs. At the end of that year, I decided if I was ever going to try to make a career as a photographer, this was the time to do it.

SLAM: What inspired you to do this particular series, of the women streetballers?

RN: I played high school and college basketball, but for whatever reason, I never really shot it in the 12-plus years I’ve been working as a photographer. I watched this documentary Doin’ It In the Park, and afterwards saw it had a Facebook page. I went to the Facebook page, and it linked to this Ladies Who Hoop group. I dug down into this wormhole a little bit, stumbled onto this group, and knew I was gonna be visiting New York City in the summer. I sent a message to the curator…and she sent a message right back saying come on out.

There’s a lot of different reasons it interests me. First and foremost, I love basketball. It’s been a big part of my life, and I wanted to finally start shooting it—but I also wanted to shoot it in my own way. One of the things I love about photography is that it’s my window to get out and meet interesting people, and this group was definitely interesting to me. I’m the dad of two young girls…I love projects that allow me to show women in particular, in a manner that is strong and powerful and athletic. So [Ladies Who Hoop] hit the mark on a number of different levels—they’re an interesting group, it’s basketball-related, and it’s women.

SLAM: It seems from the photos there was a broad range of women involved, different age groups and different backgrounds?

RN: One of the things I love about sport is it brings together people from a variety of different backgrounds. I know my life has been enriched by meeting [my former teammates] and getting to know them, having friendships with people who didn’t grow up in the same manner as I did. That was another thing about the piece that was really rewarding to see—that basketball was obviously doing that [for these women] as well.

SLAM: What did you learn from the women that were there, or was there anything that really struck you while watching and photographing them?

RN: There’s a lot of things. I really felt like they played the game the right way. They played with pride. They played hard. They competed against each other. But at the end of every game, they shook hands. There was obviously some sisterhood amongst the girls who play. The thing that I would say I learned from it is if you are doing something you love and enjoy, there are other people out there who love it and enjoy it too. These ladies obviously love basketball. Some of them—I overheard conversations of coming all the way from Brooklyn—made a significant effort to get there and come and play. You would not think there’d be a huge group of women streetball basketball players, but they found each other. I think that’s pretty cool…whatever your little niche is, there’s probably other people out there that are into it. We’ve all got our family, so to speak.

SLAM: Why are the photos in black and white?

RN: Initially, I wanted to run them in color. That was a difficult decision for me, honestly. I went back and forth a number of times. Ultimately I felt like in black and white, you focus more on [the women]. You weren’t as distracted by the color of whatever shirt they were wearing, and it just made it a little bit cleaner and more focused on where I wanted people’s attention to be. One of the things I was hopeful that I could do with the piece is—and this kind of goes back to what I was talking about earlier—create images particularly of women, where they’re strong and powerful in a manner you would normally see men photographed.

SLAM: You mentioned you played some basketball in high school and college. Can you talk a little bit about your experience?

RN: I was really blessed. I played at Raytown South High School—which in Missouri and in the Midwest, particularly during the time I was there—was a powerhouse. My junior year we won the state title, and we had two guys that were Division I players. I was never the star player or all-state or any of those sorts of things, but I was good enough to eventually play at Oklahoma City University. I was there for three years and we were lucky, blessed, talented enough to win the national NAIA Division I title in ‘94 and ‘96. I was a reserve player, blessed to be a part of a really successful college program. That’s a real brief description. I was always a pretty good outside shooter. I always tell people the 3-point shot helped pay for my college education.

SLAM: Very cool. Is there anything else we should know?

RN: It’s one of those things…I didn’t know exactly what I was gonna get going in to [Ladies Who Hoop]. It’s been a fun ride, and I’ll just continue to see what develops. I’m always on the lookout for the next thing I want to go shoot, whether it’s personal work or assignment work. Hopefully, I can continue developing work in this regard, whether it’s specific to this group or not. I do know if I get back to New York and they’re playing, I would go and hang out and shoot them some more, for sure.

The post Unlikely Story appeared first on SLAM.

It seems like every other week our man Kool Bob Love launches another innovative project that captures the culture of streetball in a variety of artistic forms. From the award-winning and globetrotting documentary film Doin’ it in the Park to conceptualizing and executing a new full-court tournament-like format of the traditional “21” playground game, Bobbito is living proof that blacktop hoops and its rich culture is far from dead.

Up next, you ask?

Well, how about him going behind the mic and releasing a fresh new streetball-inspired tune called “Park Pick-Up Player”? Visit www.koolboblove.com/music to listen to the track and check out the release below for more information on it.

ÁLALA Records is Bobbito Garcia’s current vinyl-only label, and third imprint in his 20 years of releasing forward thinking music on wax. His newest 7”/digital release “Park Pick-Up Player” features “Kool Bob Love” himself doing a spoken word piece inspired by DOIN’ IT IN THE PARK, the basketball documentary he co-directed. Accomplished producer Mark de Clive-Lowe’s remix gave the tune a Latin Jazz uptempo flavor.

 

“Park Pick-Up Player” has received airplay on eastvillageradio.com and massive club support from DJs Rich Medina (NYC), Sake 1 (San Francisco), and Suce Smash (NYC-Puerto Rico). Enjoy the track on the dance floor, in your headphones, or on the sideline of a basketball court near you!

 

Bobbito García Y Su Álala “Park Pick-Up Player” (Mark de Clive-Lowe Remix)
Álala Records 2014
Digital download at iTunes
7” vinyl at fatbeats.com
Álala x Bball Junkies “Park Pick-Up Player” t-shirt available at bballjunkies.com

The post Bobbito Garcia Releases Streetball-inspired Song appeared first on SLAM.

Young said he had no choice but to “swag” on the kids.

The post Nick Young Joins 3-on-3 Streetball Game in NYC (VIDEO) appeared first on SLAM.

Bobbito Garcia’s recent SLAM rebuttal to ESPN’s egregious claim that “Playground Basketball Is Dying” was an incredible opus in defense of the culture. While Garcia’s piece proved that blacktop is far from dead, his Full Court 21 concept, where multiple defenders guard whoever has the ball (think 1-on-5), displayed the game is actually evolving.

Powered by Kiswe, the Full Court 21 Championship made history on August 26th, 2014 by being the first outdoor game to ever be streamed live to a worldwide audience where the user chooses from multiple camera angles. With the added ability to click for replays, the audience basically became their own TV producers.

As ill an atmosphere as Bobbito created with the Knicks and SLAM supporting plus famous friends like Vashtie Kola coming through, nothing was bigger than the actual championship games for both men and women.

“You’ve really got to be in shape,” Full Court 21 scorekeeper Chiené Jones voiced. “It’s like Iron Man, but for b-ball.”

If anyone knows what it takes to win Full Court 21, it’s Jones. Inspired by the action, the former NYU guard left the score table to suit up, qualified for the chip, then speed dribbled her way to becoming the first women’s division champ. 108th Street block favorite Monet Sealy aka “Pee-eeirn!” came close to tying in the final seconds, but “The Scorekeeper” scooped the bragging rights.

The men’s game was a dogfight.

The qualifiers from the five weeks of regular season action were David Melendez aka “The Puerto Rican Hulk,” Tyson Hartnett aka “Clark Gable,” Jeff Lieder aka “The Juicer,” “9-Finger Will” Hightower and defending champ Matt Thomas. Each made the final by sheer will, a lot of skill, and for some, a little strategy.

Thomas started off by splitting two defenders with a crossover so low he could’ve winked at the pavement. Lieder answered by hitting Melendez and Hartnett with a cross smoother than a coconut smoothie that had the crowd open. Thomas led with 11 points at half.

Just as the defending champion Thomas looked to repeat cleanly, Hartnett hustled his way to a quick 11 with under two minutes left. Thomas had the high with 15 at the 10-second mark, but Hartnett tied him again by hitting consecutive free throws just before the running time buzzer.

Under official Full Court 21 rules, a tied game turns into a sudden death 3-point shootout to determine the winner. After Hartnett hit his NBA distance three, Thomas took a shot that bounced off the rim. 2014 came to a close with a new champ.

“I was living in Florida and saw highlights of last summer’s tournament,” said Hartnett, who has played pro in Ireland and Argentina. “I actually trained. I ran suicides, 17s and then I’d run for an hour just to get in shape. I looked forward to this all year, but I didn’t think I’d win. This is a glorious way to end the summer. Training pays off.”

When Bobbito heard of Hartnett’s regimen to prep for his tournament, he seemed unfazed. In fact, the director/announcer was adamant that there’s no other way.

“You have to train for this. It’s taxing to sprint both ways between possessions. The only time you get a break is when someone scores [and has to shoot free throws], but that’s not really a break because that means you’re down. There’s no way you can compete if you’re not prepared.”

Watch the archive of the finals at app.kiswe.com, and start running stairs now. Full Court 21 will be coming to five international cities in 2015. Stay tuned at www.fullcourt21nyc.com and @fullcourt21nyc.

The post Bobbito Garcia’s Full Court 21 Championship appeared first on SLAM.

Dexter Gardiner was born and raised in the Bronx. He grew up playing basketball at St. James Park, which is where he now holds the annual Gardiner Memorial Basketball Classic. He is also the founder of the Gardiner Foundation, which he started back in 2006. Gardiner launched the foundation after a series of tragic events occurred: he lost his mother in January of that year, and then lost his sister to cancer about five months later. When his twin brother, Derrick, drove up from Mississippi for the memorial, he crashed in the Bronx River Parkway and died, along with his niece and two nephews.

It would have been easy for Gardiner to give up on everything after going through such a tragedy, but he decided to do the exact opposite. Gardiner began to give back to his community, to show the children of the neighborhood that there are options other than just the street life, and that giving up should never be an option. During the first two years of the tournament, Gardiner paid for it himself, but then a man by the name of Jeff Korek, a lawyer from Brooklyn who now resides in Scarsdale, saw what Gardiner was doing and wanted to support the cause.

Korek and Gardiner met while playing in a Westchester County basketball league together, and have been working together for many years now. Every year the event gets bigger and bigger. This year was the 9th annual tournament, and it was obvious that Gardiner and Korek’s work has brought this community together in so many ways. Aside from the actual tournament, Gardiner presents opportunities for children throughout the neighborhood to showcase their different talents, which include singing to dancing. He held a segment that allowed local kids to play in a 14-and-under game, while also hosting raffles and giveaways for the children in attendance, and even gave out new book bags and school supplies for the kids in the park. Four teenagers were presented with college scholarships to institutions such as the Borough of Manhattan Community College and University of Bridgeport. “My part is just a little part of teaching them life skills,” says Gardiner. Additionally, thanks to a relentless fundraising effort by Dexter and and Korek, there will be a new soccer field installed at St. James Park and all of its basketball courts will be renovated.

The quality of competition in the tournament was also as impressive as the other facets of the event. The games featured an array of talented streetballers who put on a show for the crowd, all while maintaining a high level of competitiveness. The championship game saw the Red Team, led by Korek, his oldest son and a few local neighborhood players, such as Bronx high school prospect Jaquan McKennon. They went up against the Yellow Team, whose squad included AND1 streetball legends  “The Pharmacist” and “High Octane.” Ultimately, it was the Yellow Team that came away victorious, with “The Pharmacist” taking home tournament MVP honors.

“Building a family, you’re building a better community. Build a better community, you build a better city. Build a better city, you build a better state. Build a better state, you build a better country. Build a better country, you build a better world.” These words are one of the many sayings that Gardiner’s likes to live by. It gives him the drive needed to keep pressing forward and show the neighborhood that life doesn’t always have a dead end, and that they should continue persevering regardless of the circumstances. He wants all to understand that “we are our brother’s keeper,” which is the motto of the foundation and words that read on the backs of all the tournament shirts.

The main vision of Korek and Gardiner is simply to  better everyone around them, as well as send a positive message to the children. “Community service. If you’re going to high school, college, law school, medical school, whatever you’re going to do in life, you have to make community service a part of your life,” says Korek. He hopes the youth take note of what Gardiner and his family have done and follow in their path. Gardiner stressed to attendees that anything is possible for someone who has the proper work ethic, an advise he exemplifies every year with his tournament. He wants his Kingsbridge community to understand that basketball does not have to be a kid’s only way to success — even advising the youngsters in attendance to watch the Lenny Cooke documentary on multiple occasions during the weekend. When all is said and done, Gardiner simply wants to make sure that he has, “put [his] foot in to try and make this world a better world.” And that’s exactly what he did that weekend.

The post 2014 Gardiner Foundation Classic Recap appeared first on SLAM.

“It’s just Las Vegas—it’s the place for a championship,” said Ball Up CEO Demetrius Spencer. “I think this is going to be the home for our championship every year.”

This time around, no open tryouts were held for the public like they did in every city. Instead, one MVP from each city was invited to play in the championship for the $100,000 contract and a spot to be on the roster on next years Ball Up squad.

Fans lined up for hours outside of the arena desperately waiting to see all their favorite streetballers put on a show, and it was definitely worth the wait. When the doors had finally opened, every seat in the arena had been filled up. Shortly after, the players were introduced and welcomed in by the Jabbawockeez, who stole the show with insane pre-game and halftime performances. Floyd Mayweather and the beautiful Gonzalez twins, Dyl and Dakota, who will be suiting up for the Lady Rebels in 2015-16, were also in attendance.

During pre-game warm-ups, I chopped it up with Bone Collector and he made one thing clear regarding his opponents: “If they don’t respect it, they will get collected.” And boy, was he right.

Bone Collector displayed his usual ankle-breaking crossovers and had the crowd going crazy throughout the whole game. If he wasn’t getting to the bucket at will, he was dishing it out to high-flying rim-rockers Mr. Afrika, Special FX and G. Smith who caught lob after lob and were out there to make a statement. And although the Finalists were competing against the Ball Up All-Stars, they were also competing amongst each other for a life-changing opportunity. All of them fought for the spotlight, which resulted in them trailing almost 20 throughout majority of the game.

In the second half, 5-5 DeAndre “Mosquito” Bray—whose nickname served his size and style of play just right—from Atlanta, GA, took initiative and became one of the main facilitators for the Finalists as he showed his ability to shoot the three, defend and set his teammates up offensively. “I wanted everyone to look good and make it hard for them to compete with us,” said Mosquito. “I’m not going to hold back playing against them. I’m going to play hard with them.”

And once Mosquito got all of his teammates to realize they wouldn’t hold back either against the veteran squad, the lead started decreasing and the thought of an upset was becoming a reality. Mosquito hit a big three-pointer in the last three minutes to give the Finalists their first lead of the game, 70-69. As both teams exchanged buckets down the stretch, Mosquito got a huge steal during the last couple seconds that led to an emphatic dunk that sealed the deal. After a deflected inbounds pass, the Finalists came out victorious, 82-79.

“Us being as good as we are, we took our eyes off the prize for a couple of possessions and they played a hard game,” said Bone Collector after the loss. “And deservingly, Mosquito got a lot of clutch steals in those situations and they came away with the win.”

The smallest guy on the court contributed in the biggest way possible, and after the game, fans rushed the court to take pictures and get autographs from the new star. “I’ve been playing for free for all of my life the same way I play now, and it’s not going to change when I got money on the line,” said Mosquito. “I’m just here to do my thing.”

For more information regarding the ‘Search for the Next’ TV series, head over to ballup.com.

Photos courtesy of Ray P

The post Ball Up Championship Game Recap appeared first on SLAM.

The tour broadcast this fall on Fox Sports Net. Video courtesy of Ball Up.

The post 2014 Ball Up Streetball Tour Recap (VIDEO) appeared first on SLAM.

Roll through photos of the weekend of games and events in the gallery above, and below check out the recipes for the six cocktails BACARDI Flavored Rum created for the six different media outlets that covered the tournament.

Buzzer Beater
1 part BACARDÍ® Pineapple Fusion
2 parts lemonade
2 parts iced tea

Taking Pop Culture by Storm
1 part BACARDÍ Mango Fusion
3 parts Ginger Beer
2 dashes Angostura® Bitters

The Blogga
1/2 part BACARDÍ® Coconut
1 1/2 parts BACARDÍ® Dragon Berry
2 Orange Slices

Hip-Hop on a Higher Level
1 1/2 parts BACARDÍ® Limón
12 Fresh Spearmint Leaves
1/4 Lime Sliced
1/4 Lemon sliced
2 tbsp. Simple Syrup
Top off with Club Soda

#BETShoutOut
2 parts BACARDÍ® Mango Fusion
2 parts Orange Juice
2 parts Coconut Water

Half Court
1 part BACARDÍ® Limón
1 part Lemonade
1 part Coconut Water®

The post Team Atlanta Wins the 2014 South Beach Invitational (PHOTOS) appeared first on SLAM.

Beal, who was guarded by Goodman League veteran Dele Ojo, scored 33 points and helped his team of amateurs overcome a 12-point deficit in the final six minutes.

 

“I told the crowd before the game he had to get something off his chest,” Goodman League commissioner and MC Miles Rawls said. “I said this could be a 50-point game, but he ended up with 33. I think he liked the atmosphere.”

 

Beal, who told Rawls he loved his experience trying out for Team USA in Las Vegas, attended Sunday’s games at Barry Farms as a spectator. Rawls said the Wizards guard lost a game of H-O-R-S-E, which may have provided additional motivation for him on Monday. […] “I think he probably knew he was going to play [Monday] after that,” Rawls said. “He was just getting used to the rims and he came back with a vengeance.”

The post Bradley Beal Drops 33 Points at the Goodman League (VIDEO) appeared first on SLAM.

The post Reebok Brings Nerlens Noel, Shaq and Cam’ron to Rucker Park (PHOTOS) appeared first on SLAM.

Andre Barrett
Age: 32
Hometown: Bronx, NY
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 180 lbs
HS: Rice
College: Seton Hall
Interesting Fact: Barrett was averaged 32.4 minutes per game as a freshman and started all 31 games. Inducted into the Seton Hall of Fame.

Justin Burrell
Age: 26
Hometown: Bronx, NY
Height: 6 foot 8
Weight: 244 lbs
HS: Bridgton Academy
College: St. John’s
Overseas: Japan and France
Interesting Fact: Chose to play at St. John’s because he loves to play in MSG.

Keydren Clark
Age: 29
Hometown: Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Height: 5’11 “
Weight: 185 lbs
HS: Rice
College: Saint Peter’s
Overseas: Italy
Interesting Fact: 7th all time in NCAA scoring history. All time leading scorer in New Jersey history.

Corey Fisher
Age: 26
Hometown: Bronx, NY
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 200 lbs
HS: St. Patrick
College: Villanova
Oversears: Russia
Interesting Fact: Dubbed the “playground legend” after a 105 point summer league game.

Vernon Goodrich
Age: 30
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
HS: Lutheran Christian Academy
College: Mississippi State, La Salle
Overseas: Turkey, Israel, Spain
Interesting: Was the 5th overall pick in the 2010 NBA Development League Draft by the Springfield Armor.

Mike Haynes
Age: 33
Hometown: Bronx, NY
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 220 lbs
HS: Millersburg Academy
College: Fordham
Overseas: Israel, Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, Korea, Poland
Interesting Fact: Played basketball in more countries than states in US.

Quinton Hosley
Age: 30
Hometown: Harlem
Height: 6’7”
Weight: 215 lbs
HS: Abraham Lincoln
College: Fresno State
Overseas: Italy
Interesting Fact: Father, mother and Quinton all one championships at Rucker Park.

Dahntay Jones
Age: 33
Hometown: Trenton, NJ
Height: 6’6”
Weight: 225lbs
HS: Steinert
College: Duke
NBA: Indiana Pacers, Dallas Mavericks, Atlanta Hawks
Interesting Fact: Cousin of NBA player Al Harrington.

Allan Sheppard
Age: 29
Hometown: Harlem
Height: 6’6”
Weight: 212 lbs
HS: Philip Randolp
College: St. Francis
Overseas: Iceland, Ecuador, Chile
Interesting Fact: Led New York City in scoring in High School.

Royal Ivey
Age: 32
Hometown: Harlem
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 200 lbs
HS: Benjamin Cardozo High School/Blair Academy
College: Texas
National Basketball Association
Interesting Fact: During the NBA Lockout in 2011, Royal Ivey returned to the University of Texas to finish his Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Learning and Development.

Curtis Kelly
Age: 26
Hometown: The Bronx
Height: 6’8”
Weight: 245 lbs
HS: Rice
College: Kansas State
Overseas: Italy
Interesting Fact: Named the New York Post and New York Daily News Player of the Year as a senior in High School.

Coach Artie Green
Age: 48
Hometown: Peekskill, MY
HS: Stevens
College: City College of Fresno
Places coached: Kipps Bay Boys and Girls Club, NY Ravens, NYC JAM ABA, Team New York
Interesting Fact: Won a championship in Las Vegas with the NY Ravens

The post Team NYC Roster for Nike World Basketball Festival TOC Announced appeared first on SLAM.

Kanye West’s bars on “Everything I Am,” from 2007, still ring true and have so for decades, though it’s only begun to draw national attention in recent years. Despite numerous “stop the violence” campaigns around Chicago, nothing has proven better, in the past and present, at quelling the tension than a ball and a rim.

“Ben Wilson was killed in late November 1984. He was the 669th person killed,” says long-time Chicagoan and former SLAM editor/writer Scoop Jackson. “We had [415 in 2013]. He was 669 in 1984 and the year finished up with [741]! I hate to say it, but this is the culture of Chicago. It’s getting a lot more media attention. I don’t wanna say this is the norm, but this isn’t really out of control. But if you go back, there was no violence at the Chicago St. University [Pro-Am] in the ’80s, nothing jumped off. The city stopped for that.”

Jump forward 30 years. Welcome to the Nike Chi-League, entering its second year after a strong inaugural run in 2013. Looking to increase its presence in the city, provide some optimism to a city that needs it and showcase the talent in the new metropolitan mecca for hoops, Nike started the Chi-League and it quickly became the city’s premier summer Pro-Am league.

“I started paying attention to the violence and became really impacted by what was going on and interested in the fact that it was focused in the South and West Sides, where basketball is so important,” says Nike rep Jill Rankin, one of Nike’s Senior Brand Directors and a point person for the Chi-League. “Those are the neighborhoods where the best basketball players in the country are coming from. Players like Anthony Davis, Jahlil [Okafor], Paul White, Cliff [Alexander], Jabari [Parker]. If those neighborhoods are impacted by violence, then what does that mean for the future?

“I learned our brand is really important in those communities when we started reaching to not just kids, but community leaders,” Rankin continues. “We’re a sports company, and the problems have to do with gangs and guns, and I started to think that we–Nike–needed to do something, because our brand is already important to these kids. We’re doing business in Chicago and have a team on the ground, and I started to feel like we had the responsibility to do something and see if we could make a difference.”

After deciding that they definitely wanted to get involved in the area, Nike personnel spoke to Chicago-based community leaders. As conversations evolved, one thing became clear: Chicago didn’t need Nike’s money—the city needed the brand’s help in making things happen in the community on a grassroots level.

“We started having conversations about what made the summer league special back in the day,” says Jackson. “How could they do it? How could they bring energy and excitement back? Not just who played, but who was playing against who? That was a lot of my conversation with them, trying to explain to them not being from here what basketball really meant. In the city, it was just as, if not more, important than the NBA and college seasons. Even when DePaul was great, and Illinois was great, and the Bulls were starting to make their run, it was still about summer.”

And so the Chi-League was born last April. And while the name isn’t a catch-all, Nike’s outreach is. After all, Chi-League Pro-Am—hosted every Saturday at Whitney Young HS, alma mater to First Lady Michele Obama among others—is only one part of a three-part initiative. Parts two and three, Chi-League School and Chi-League Parks, give kids opportunities to reach their full potential on and off the court.

In its inaugural season, Chi-League was successful on all three tiers.

“We were hoping when we kicked off that we could get a couple hundred people, and maybe by the eighth week we’d get 1,000,” Rankin says of the Pro-Am, which featured regular appearances from pros like Shawn Marion and Will Bynum, and local favorites like Osiris Eldrige and Tony Bennett. “Of course, in Chicago, apparently, if you say ‘basketball,’ people will follow and show up. Every weekend, we had 5,000 people.”

Jackson gave the league— attendance is free to the public—his stamp of approval: “I thought it was a step that [the people in Chicago] weren’t prepared for, the overall enjoyment and energy the Chi-League brought back. You saw Stefhon Hannah really use last summer as a stage to do his thing and that resonated throughout the city because you started to hear buzz: ‘Oh, so-and-so is over there at the Chi-League.’ I felt that, and I hadn’t felt that in a while. That was a good feel.

“The unexpected was the camps that went on beyond just putting on a showcase over the weekend,” he continues. “I think that caught a lot of people by surprise in a good way. From a brand standpoint, it went over well because Nike didn’t have to do this. They could have just recreated the summer league and stopped there. But for them to go out and provide workshops and things like that, I think that took a lot of people by surprise. I talked to some kids and it made them feel like somebody cared.”

Chi-League School and Chi-League Parks, also free and on Saturdays, reached families all over the city. Chi-League School, “was about skill development, like we do with our Elite Youth teams; it was literally just a customized version of that program,” says Rankin. “The school idea was to take 100 kids that were, like, the sixth to 10th men on their team and give them a really intense development opportunity. The idea was that if you’re really good, you’re gone [for AAU], but everybody else has nowhere to go.”

In addition to on-court instruction, the School provided life-skills education for the young athletes, featuring guest speakers included Whitney Young principal Dr. Joyce Kenner, National Recruiting Group and University of Chicago initiative Becoming A Man. After a successful first run, the School is expanding to two sessions reaching 400 kids, including girls, this year.

While the Pro-Am was about inspiring and showcasing the best basketball in the city, Chi-League Parks was about touching the youth. Each week, at rotating locations, Nike, in conjunction with the Chicago Park District, put on free clinics at neighborhood parks on the South and West Sides of the city. The programs were such a hit in 2013 that they were extended through the end of the year. Bears athletes, Nike reps and others were on hand each week to provide some additional guidance and inspiration. This year, they are set to double their reach to 10,000 kids.

Tim O’Connell, the Assistant Director of Recreation for Chicago’s Park District, was one of the appreciative administrator’s on the city side of things. “We picked the locations for Chi-League Parks with Nike. Working with them from the beginning, literally planning out how many hoops are in the gym, how many kids can we accommodate, what times are best,” O’Connell says. “We were happy to partner with them to provide [Chi-League Parks] at no cost to communities and give positive opportunities for young people from the ages of 9-18. When they brought Jabari Parker, and even when they brought a retired athlete, the kids really did appreciate getting words of wisdom from someone who pretty much would always say, ‘I was you, I was in your spot.’ It was well-received and it was well-thought out.”

Adds Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel: “Chi-League Parks was a tremendous success in 2013 and serves as an example of how business, communities and government can come together to support Chicago’s youth while also creating area jobs. It’s important that our kids have access to safe activities and positive role models in the summer, and I commend Nike for doubling down on this successful program to reach even more young people.”

All three programs— Chi- League Pro-Am, Chi-League School and Chi-League Parks—have received immense positive feedback and expanded accordingly for 2014. Chi League Parks began May 31, while the Pro-Am and School opened up on June 14.

“I appreciate it and I think it did do something on a singular level,” Jackson says of Chi-League. “It was a breath of fresh air to see a bunch of folks from all over the city get together and not have anything jump off. Chi-League is great and a getaway for a lot of people.”

Rankin reminisced on the Pro-Am’s 2013 finale as a great sign of what’s to come: “When Chi-League ended, people wouldn’t leave. We were trying to clean the gym and they would not leave. Some of the people came down and the sentiment was they were afraid we weren’t going to come back and do it again. I think that’s what Chicago kids–and kids in any big city–kind of expect, is for brands to come in and do something once and leave. And that’s not our intent.”

The post Unify appeared first on SLAM.

by Scoop Jackson

Driving through K-Town with Mitchell “JJ” Anderson is a trip. He used to run this. So did Mark Aguirre, Billy Harris and Eddie Hughes. Now the game has changed. The things JJ used to do on the court that we considered revolutionary are now just considered “nice.” Nobody forgets what he used to do (he can still do most of ‘em), but on the concrete of K-Town, you’re only as good as—as Lamar Mondane would say—your last rain drop.

The west side of Chicago is unlike any other place in the world. It’s like two Harlems and half of the Bronx rolled into one, the heaven Rick Telander shoulda wrote about. It’s the most important basketball spot in the world. OK, maybe not, but it’s close. On this day, playground legend JJ Anderson reminisces. The parks and games that were his as a teenager belong to Michael Herman, Ronnie Fields, Kiwane Garris and Donald Whiteside now. In his day, JJ was special, something to behold: 30-point games in games up to 32; vicious tuck-the-ball-under-your-shirt cup dunks; baseline, behind-the-backboard finger rolls—you know, the regular.

Now, as Austin Park fades in the rearview mirror, JJ’s legacy is just stories, messages of what used to be his. His play at Bradley University and his run with the 76ers don’t mean anything now. More important to him are the stories of what he left on the playgrounds of Chicago. Shine on the concrete here, you’ll shine forever; once you get love here, you got love for life.

***

Andre Curry, City Worker: “I saw Paul McPherson do the most ridiculous shit I’ve ever seen anybody in my life do. Someone missed a shot, and Paul came from the baseline to, I thought, rebound. The ball bounced way off the back of the rim, it almost looked like it was going out of bounds on the side. Then from out of nowhere, Paul grabs the ball out of the air with his left hand, brings the ball down to his ankles—still cupped in his left hand!—and threw that ball through the rim harder than any dunk I’ve ever seen. There were still players running towards the sideline, thinking the ball was going out of bounds. All I could say was, ‘God damn.’ What made it worse was that he was still going up after he dunked the ball.”

Raul Sims, B-Ball Camp Sponsor: “Sonny Parker and Rock [Vernado Parker] both said that was the best dunk they had ever seen, but remember that dunk Ronnie Fields did two years ago? Not even that dunk, those two dunks he did back-to-back to end the game? [Oohs and ahhs around the room. Everybody remembers.] The first one was that one pass off the glass from Juwan [Howard], then the next time [was] down court on the breakaway. The 360. The one where he touched the ball with his shoes in the air before he windmilled it. The one that they had to stop the game for, because everybody came out of the stands and rampaged the court. Y’all remember that?”

***

Ronnie Fields and Paul McPherson are legends. Both are under 22 years old, and both have prodigious talent; then again, neither took high school seriously, and neither has a pro contract. Over the past three years, they have staged a war that will never be finished. In the parks and in the summer tournaments of Chicago, they have managed to create a show that will only be outdone if Jordan and Dominique decide that ’88 ain’t over. They manage to do things on a level that makes people lie.

***

“I saw Paul McPherson shoot a three, run, jump, grab the ball out of the net and dunk it back before he came back down.”

“I once saw Ronnie Fields end a game on a breakaway. He put his foot on the backboard, did a backwards flip and then did a reverse dunk to win the game.”

You know the rules. Myths. Fables. Street stories.

***

Both men represent the culture of playground basketball and what it means in Chicago. High school ball was just a day job to them—until the summer came, until the temperature rose. That’s when the stories get told, when legends are built. Immortality, formed. DePaul University? Junior College? The CBA? Please. Paul and Ronnie are bigger than that. NBA stories don’t last long, playground/park stories marinate forever. Paul and Ronnie know, more than most, that basketball is a game meant to be played on concrete and/or with no restrictions. You can’t stop a 6-2 left-handed kid built like a linebacker, with a 46-inch vertical and a jump shot soft as Joe Dumars (Paul). You can’t hold down a 6-3 Jordanesque prodigy who can score 35 at will, from every spot on the court; who plays defense, rebounds and has—literally—skied over heads to get his points across (Ronnie). Who needs the NBA when the Pro-Ams keep it real?

***

Carl West, Magazine Editor: “One time last year up at Hoops, Alvin Daniels strolled in to work out. R. Kelly and his boys were up there that day, runnin’. Now they didn’t know Al from a hole in the wall, they didn’t know the juice he has, they just thought he was a regular brotha up there to ball. Rob [Kelly] started talkin’ shit. Now Al’s a humble brotha, but he was getting tired of the unnecessary noise. So he nullified all of madness by dropping the final 18 points of the game on Rob. In a row! And on the final shot, he shook Rob and pulled up just inside the half court line—and as the ball dropped through the net he opened his arms and sang right in R. Kelly’s face, ‘I believe I can fly.’”

Daryl Materre, Jazz Musician: “Back in the day, I watched this unknown cat named David ‘Doc’ Robinson up at Whitney Young High School play against Darius Clemons, who at the time was the Sun-Times Player of the Year in city. This was in a pick-up game outside the school. Doc was killin’ Darius. Killin’ him. He did one move that I don’t think Julius Erving coulda pulled off. He went to the hole with the ball in one hand, you know like the old Doctor J move. It looked like he was going in for a dunk. Doc was only about 5-11. Right before he got to the cup, Clemons came across to block the shot. In mid-air, Doc dropped the ball behind his back into his left hand and brought it under Darius’ arm for a scoop shot off the backboard.”

***

Foster Park used to be the spot. Some claim that it still is. There was a time when a ballplayer wasn’t a real ballplayer until he took his game to West 84^th Street for a test. It was, for a period of time, a landmark. Then again, so was Cole Park.

This is what makes Chicago unique, so unlike most of the country’s other cities where asphalt, building and basketball connect. One park, one playground, one court does not make a culture. Not here. There is a contest within. No one specific place represents where the best can be found. Ball players in Chi build, then travel. From park to park, Y to Y, Chicago State to I.I.T. From the Butler family to the Irvin family. No park is safe from Nick Irvin’s jumper or Imari Sawyer’s cross-crossover. No playground is safe from a Brian Leach 70-point game.

According to the Chicago Park District, there are over 500 parks in Chicago. Each one has a story to tell, each one has a legend to maintain. It is at these parks where Timmy Hardaway, Kendall Gill, Nick Anderson, Juwan Howard, Antoine Walker, Hersey Hawkins and Michael Finley became pros; and where Alfredrick Hughes, Daryl Sigh, Billy Harris, Paul King, Michael Newbell, Tyrone Bradley, Levertus Robinson, Efrham Winters, Marcus Liberty and Ben Wilson became legends.

But it also where the unknown score 50 in games, where somebody nobody’s ever seen of heard of runs the court—never losing a game—for hours. It’s in Chicago’s summer tournaments that NBA stars lose their shine to high-school dropouts and drug dealers. It’s at Avalon Park in closed-door games that “sponsors” come five strong with their squads and a loss can cost $50,000—and some players a lot more.

It’s at Gill Park, where some wannabe local legend, fresh from Tony’s Sports with his new Jordans, gets his sneakers took because he had no idea that the shortie he’s ballin’ against is Joel Bullock, the No. 2 JC player in the country. It’s at Malcolm X College, where an argument breaks out over a call, and the court empties when someone pulls a gun to prove his point. The only player not shook is this 5-11 kid from the suburbs, who remains on the court holding the ball in his hands and will not leave because he came into the city to test his game against the best—and he’s willing to die to prove that he belongs.

***

Brian Leach, Legend: “Tim came down and hit a long two, then I came down and hit a three. He came right back down court and hit a three, then I came straight back and hit another three. It went like that for about eight or nine times downcourt in a row. You know how you get in a zone—well, both of us were in it. But what made it so different is that we both stayed in there for the whole game. It was like a one-on-one full court. People had never seen anything like that on the Pro-Am level. After every shot, the crowd got louder and louder. All summer long, people kept asking me, ‘When are you and Timmy going at it again? When does your team play his team again?’ I still hear about it today [five years later]. It was just one of those things. I can’t even remember who won the game, but when it was over, Timmy had 72 points. I had 73.

Tim Hardaway, NBA: “That game was a good time. We won the game, but that wasn’t because I got the best of him or because he got the best of me. I’ll say this [laughing]: We got the best of each other. It was just the team I was on was better than his. Leach was a great ballplayer, still is. Every time we played against each other, we showed the crowd something explosive. I was scared to play against him, and he was scared to play against me, because we didn’t know what tricks we were going to do on each other. I wish he would’ve made it to the League.”

***

There will be cities with beef about this story. Mad cities, literally. Why? “What’s Chicago got that New York, Detroit or L.A. doesn’t?” That’s what they will ask. Easy. Basketball is equivalent to primary culture in Chicago. It is what hip-hop is to New York; automobiles are to Detroit; money, fame, police corruption and courtrooms are to Los Angeles. It is beyond a way of life; it is life itself. Let me put it this way: Hoop Dreams fascinated the whole country except Chicago.

I am Tiger Woods? Never. We are Agee and Gates. Always. The playground game’s importance has not changed since Cazzie Russell took his game out of Carver High. It has not changed since Ricky Green, Bo Ellis, Sonny Parker and Quinn Buckner. It hasn’t changed since the infamous Arthur Sivels. It remains the same in priority today because of Melvin Ely, Mike Robinson, Jimmy Sanders and Lenord Myles. In truth, it rests in the palms of Michael Herman.

Early June ’97 at ISEM free agent rookie camp in Chicago, Michael Herman is sitting in the bleachers, basketball in hand, contemplating his future. He has a decision to make: Stay and impress some NBA scouts or leave to play pick-up games at LeClair gym? Needless to say, the scouts were impressed.

Over the past three years, Michael Herman has put himself in position to not even be questioned as the Rafer Alston of Chi: the best on the block. It’s an important title, an unspoken one. Right now, it is something no one will really argue. He’s that nice. His continuous 40-50 point games against all comp in the pro summer leagues has given witness to a new legend.

Rumors about what he’s going to do are becoming legendary, too. His one year at Indiana University under Massa Knight was a mistake; so was his not continuing college. Right now, he’s probably the best kept secret not in the NBA.

Why? Despite his ability to put on shows, cross people up with moves unseen and piss opposing coaches off by being straight-up unguardable, he’s first and foremost a defensive specialist. As great as he is when he has the ball in his possession, he’s more dangerous when you have the ball. Yes, you. He lives for the challenge, the shut down, the memory of making your time on the basketball court a living hell. Stories of his performances are becoming more than legendary, they’re becoming consistent.

And in the hoop dream reality of non-professional basketball in Chicago, Michael Herman is not special. His story is no different than that of, say, Lamar Mondane (despite the Reebok commercials) or Billy Harris (often considered the best ever Chicago playground legend) or Teddy Grubbs (probably the most talented big man Chicago playgrounds will ever see). All had shots at making it to the League, all failed. All will be remembered as some of the best the Park District and summer leagues will witness.

In hindsight, it’s actually better that they didn’t make it and receive the check. Hell, only one in 50,000 of us make it to the League. Too often when you don’t shine in the NBA after shining on the block, people begin to doubt you. But nobody in any park, playground, street or alley with a hoop will ever doubt players like Mondane, Harris, Grubbs or Herman. Their reps are reputations you die with. Those are reps you live for.

***

Paul Wilkinson, Manager (Shark Bar): “I went to one game up at I.I.T. [Summer Pro-Am] to watch my boy Big Doug Johnson [brother of former NBA player Mickey Johnson]. I had a couple of people with me who didn’t know about Doug. I told them, ‘Watch my man, just watch him.’ Now Doug is thick, 6-4, 280! They laughed because Doug’s big; they just thought he was fat. Doug started doing his thing, backing in cats 6-9, 6-10, and scoring on them at will. Man?!? The people that were with me just sat there, looking at me in amazement. I was like, ‘I told y’all.’ They could not believe someone that size could be that nice, average 40 a game against pro ballplayers. But as long as I’ve been in Chi, Big Doug has always gotten his.

Charles “Rabbit” Honore, Police Officer: “About 15 years ago at Chicago State in the summer league, I watched Isiah Thomas do a move on Carl Nicks that was so sick, people gave him a standing ovation. The thing that made it so special is that it was just an unnecessary move, in that Zeke didn’t have to do it—he just did. I can’t really describe it—you were there with me—all I remember is Isiah alone on a fast break. For some reason, he waited for Carl to catch up with him. When Carl got there, he tried to rip him. Isiah did this spin move to try to get away from Carl, but Carl was hip to that move. Then Isiah did this other move where he got inside the lane, right before he tried to score. Carl was all over Isiah the whole time. But while he was in the air, Zeke turned his back to the basket, faked putting the ball up with his right hand, then switched and did a backwards lay-up, spinning the ball off the corner of the glass. Everybody in the gym lost it! The ref called the foul, the coach called a time out, because he couldn’t believe it. Man, people stood up and clapped during the entire time out and didn’t sit down until Isiah hit the free-throw when he came back on the court.”

***

Today, Chicago’s playgrounds are filled with unknown prodigies you and I will never see or hear about. The stars don’t come out to play anymore. Too much risk, too much drama. While the playground game’s importance hasn’t changed, the society and neighborhoods surrounding the game—and the playgrounds themselves—have. NBA insurance policies don’t cover “Pooky” bridging that ass when you’re going to the hole on the court outside of Cabrini Green Housing Projects, and that broken ankle you sustained at Russell Square Projects trying to guard “Li’l G Money” won’t make coach Riley  happy when you come to camp in a cast. For these reasons, and many others, the playground game has been left for the people who still live there. And in all honesty, that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

The “whatever happened to…” stories have become the norm. Most Chicago playground stories turn sad after a while. I guess all playground stories are that way. No one can predict what’s going to happen to Ronnie Fields, Paul McPherson and Michael Herman. No one really wants to. At this stage of the game, God has a plan for those who choose to use a basketball to make a living. For every Tim Hardaway, Mark Aguirre or Isiah Thomas that Chicago produces, there will always be a Brian Leach or a JJ Anderson it holds on to. It’s called the playground embrace. Everybody has questions, no one knows the answers.

***

Kevin Smith, paramedic: “What I remember the most about the playground, Scoop, is the shit you used to do to Andre.”

Andre Curry: “That’s cold, Kev. Why you go there? It’s cool, but don’t none of y’all forget what I used to do to him.”

***

On 72nd and Dorchester, behind Nelson Mandela Elementary School, in the under-15 Body Magic Basketball tournament, a seventh grader, Li’l Skony, loses it. Epileptic. After he gets fouled: “Yo ref, wassup with the call! Do someth’n, they gonna break my ankle out here!” After his teammate missed a jumper: I knew I shouldn’ta passed you the ball! Damn! Why you miss that shot?” After one of his turnovers: “Coach, I need some help out here. I can’t do this all by myself.” With 15 seconds left in the game, his team losing 58-52, after he fouls someone, after he walks off the court: “That’s it! Coach, sub me. I quit! This is bullshit!” A pampered star.

As he sits on the bench and changes shirts, Antonio Gaston is dropping a half court, no-look dime inside to one of his teammates as the buzzer sounds. Paying no attention to the fiasco of a coach trying to learn a child, Gaston runs to the scorers table to check the stat sheet. “How many assists did I have?” are the only words out of his mouth. He had 16. He’s proud. In the life of a 4-8 13-year-old, playground showcases—even small ones—are mandatory. As other players get ready to take the court, and some of Gaston’s teammates roll up to congratulate him, the words, “Tony Rome, MVP” are floating everywhere. He just smiles.

As Li’l Skony walks through the fence and away from the court with three of his boys, Tony Rome sips the juice. His uncle wraps his arm around his neck, “This is my li’l nigga here.” If he keeps his head straight, he could be the next “playground” legend in the making, holding down JJ’s old spot. Then again, the way basketball goes on the streets in Chicago, Antonio Gaston could be the next, “damn, whatever happened to… .”

Michael Jordan used to stop and ball out here. Rumors have it that Jordan used to get beat out here, too. Not to say that Jordan can’t handle his on the asphalt, but there aren’t too many people who will tell you that Billy Harris couldn’t hand it to MJ outside the United Center. Then again, these are just stories.

Right?

Related:
“Second City”? Not when it comes to hoops.
In Chicago—and everywhere else—the playground is no place for violence.

The post Chicago, Chicago appeared first on SLAM.

They call the city “Chi-raq” way more than you want to hear. But nicknames don’t stick unless at some primitive, even cruel, level they fit. And there’s way too much killing in Chicago for anybody not to get the connection between certain impoverished neighborhoods and battlegrounds in distant countries.

Hot weather can have a lot to do with the shootings, most of which are perpetrated by young males, usually with gang connections, usually with the victims being of the same description as the trigger-pullers. The exceptions, of course, are the bystanders and the kids who often are on the sidewalks or in their own homes, sometimes in bed, victims because the shooters spray like garden hoses, have bad aim or don’t give a damn.

Last summer 13 people, one of them just 3 years old, were shot on one South Side playground at one time due to misguided “payback.” Somehow all of the wounded lived. Of course, it’s tragic when anyone gets shot. But when the crime happens where play and joy are supposed to rule, it’s a double sin.

I took the above photo of a July pickup game at Sherman Park on 52nd Street a while ago, and the game was a sweet one—clean and tough, with some streetballers, talented high school players and college recruits going at it. It was hot as blazes, but there were no fights, no angry words, nobody “runnin’ to the trunk.” Summer is here again, folks, and outdoor ball beckons—all the relief, competition, sweat and happiness it can bring. Playgrounds are sacred. They’re not battlefields. They’re not boxing rings. They’re for keeping cool, and loving the great American game of hoops.

Get yours this summer. And make it good.—Rick Telander

Related:
“Second City”? Not when it comes to hoops.
If you can make it on the streets of Chi-Town, you don’t need to make it anywhere.

The post Finding Forever appeared first on SLAM.

One thing you can’t accuse Chicago of lacking is perspective.

For every Isiah Thomas or Derrick Rose, there’s a Ben Wilson or Jereme Richmond. For every Dwyane Wade or Anthony Davis, there’s an Imari Sawyer or LaRue Martin. For every three-peat of championships, there’s a torn ACL in the Playoffs that leaves the city in mourning.

Triumph and tragedy, pleasant surprises and bitter disappointments, it all goes hand in hand when it comes to basketball in the Windy City, an equal-opportunity proving ground where grade-schoolers can be appointed as the next big thing and even favorite sons can be challenged if there’s any perception that they aren’t living up to the billing.

Chicago is a big city, but it’s also the Midwest. For the most part, people don’t put on airs, and doing your job without fanfare, even in the face of adversity, is what’s celebrated. That’s embodied in the Chi’s NBA team, the Bulls, whose present-day version have earned respect all over for their blue-collar approach, but hold a different significance for the loyalists who show up to the United Center in freezing temperatures, through thick and thin. Fans have a low tolerance for bullshit and a feel for when players leave it all on the court, regardless if it’s aesthetically pleasing or not.

Part of it goes back to the standard Jordan set back in the day, but it’s mostly related to the inner toughness needed to survive in a city with day after day of below-zero weather throughout the winter and heartbreaking levels of violence. The latter certainly isn’t the reality of every Chicago resident, but the daily reminders of its presence does lead to a mentality where the heart of a beloved local product like Rose can be questioned by his own, while the on-court persona of less-talented teammate Joakim Noah is seen as more reflective of the city’s spirit.

From a historical perspective, Chicago has always consistently produced top-tier talent, going back to George Mikan and Sweetwater Clifton, then Cazzie Russell and streetball legend Billy Harris, all the way to the era of Zeke, Mark Aguirre and Terry Cummings, the likes of  Antoine Walker and Juwan Howard in the ’90s, and the list goes on, with Jabari Parker, Jahlil Okafor and Cliff Alexander next in line. Even the one aspect in which present-day Chicago basketball doesn’t measure up, the college game (no in-state schools made it to the NCAA Tournament last season), its history is strong: Loyola’s historic 1963 champions, DePaul’s strong run during the Ray Meyer era, the Chicago-influenced  “Flyin’ Illini” squad. Let’s not even bring female ballers, like WNBA superstars Candace Parker and Cappie Pondexter, into the discussion.

It’s not like Chicago doesn’t have down years or every player gets the hype machine treatment. But that ever-present spirit of competition that’s been passed down through generations just has a different, indescribable feeling here, with the same energy for a game at the United Center being present at a pro-am league, an almost survival of the fittest quality. There’s a fierce pride in how the game is played in Chicago and with not only the Bulls’ recent success with Tom Thibodeau on the sidelines, but the high-caliber players the city churns out year after year, it’s fair to say that there’s no better basketball city around.

New York’s claim to fame for the crown has been dubious for a minute, with the combination of the Knicks’ ineptitude and the lack of recent homegrown talent to come out of the Big Apple, and while L.A. and its outskirts are actually in the midst of somewhat of a renaissance, with the Clippers on the rise, the Drew League’s stature getting bigger since the lockout and young guns like Paul George, James Harden and Russell Westbrook taking over as OG Paul Pierce’s career comes to a close, but with apologies to those cities, as well as the whole DMV (B-More and the Tidewater region included), Philly and always-underrated Seattle, they simply don’t compare to Chicago.

It’s a territorial place, both on and off the court, but one thing any Chicagoan can agree on, no matter where their loyalties lie, is that ballplayers in the city always go hard. That’s the one quality, more than any definable talent, players always know to bring, whether it’s trying make a name for themselves at a Christmas tournament or when LeBron and the Heat are in town.

People are a little spoiled here, having seen Mike in his prime and arguably the No. 1 high school player in the country four out of the last seven years. But given the aforementioned tradition, they have a right to be.

Chicago does have a chip on its shoulder, simultaneously resenting and never believing its “Second City” moniker, something that simply doesn’t translate to the basketball court.

Related:
In Chicago—and everywhere else—the playground is no place for violence.
If you can make it on the streets of Chi-Town, you don’t need to make it anywhere.

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“Nine Fingers Will” Hightower came to play in the first game. He drove hard to the rim, scoring nine first-half points on mostly layups. He went at it a little bit with newbie David Melendez aka “The Puerto Rican Hulk”. Hightower denied Melendez on a jumper from the right elbow, but Melendez recovered the loose ball and looked back at Hightower right before drilling a floater over three other defenders. Melendez’s floaters would become the shot of the night.

Full Court 21 vet “International” Jay Gray woke up in the second half and quickly hit for 19 points. He also had some words with Melendez, who said that the trash talk was “fun.”

The aggressive play led to a shootout between “International” Jay and Melendez, who both finished regulation with 19 points. Gray missed his shot and shouted at Melendez when he put his up, but it didn’t matter. Melendez drilled it and moved on to Week 3’s qualifying game.

The second game belonged to Slovakia’s Josef Durkac, who Garcia dubbed “Brent Barry.” Durkac, in his first ever game of not just Full Court 21, but his first game of 21, had a breakaway slam reminiscent of Barry’s cuff from the 1996 NBA Dunk Contest. Skinny and long like Barry, he streaked down court for layups and was able to take the win with 17 points, despite being in awe of Garcia and “BlackJack” Ryan.

“I was so nervous I couldn’t even shoot,” Durkac said with a smile after the game.

“Big Whitt” Barnes won in the women’s game. Monet “Peiwwun” Sealy, with 6 points, put up a nice game, drawing Kyrie Irving comparisons from a few people in the crowd. But Barnes showed off a gorgeous sweeping sky hook from the left block that showed how dominant she was. She knocked down some jumpers and won with 7 points.

“I saw they were trying to cut me off on my angles, so I was just trying to get a nice floater over the defense,” Barnes said about her hook shot.

With so many people wanting to play, Garcia had to split up the full court and run two half court games. One of the games featured Week 1’s Jeff Leider and Week 2’s winner Tyson Hartnett. “International” Jay suited up for that game too while newcomers Loffe Benabderrahunge from France and Samuel Velasquez made it entertaining and competitive.

The other half court game was for the 40-plus oldheads. Garcia and Ryan played, as well as Marcus Hawthorne and Jansy Gonzalez. Gonzalez put up a fight, finishing with 10 points and a remarkable ability to never get beat off the dribble. But “BlackJack” caught fire. He dropped too many jumpers for his opponents to keep up.

Both half court games got heated and physical. Elbows were thrown and shoves were exchanged. Garcia, Ryan and Benabderrahunge put on dribbling displays that wowed the park hecklers.

Players fought hard to win these games and after “BlackJack” won his game, Harnett swished six straight jumpers to move on to the qualifying game. Hartnett, for the third week in a row, was unstoppable.

Durkac had a highlight early on—hitting a spinning, one-footed leaner off glass from the top of the key. He and Barnes didn’t back down from the physical play at all. Ryan shot the ball well from the field, but couldn’t capitalize on his free throws, finishing with 14. Melendez and Hartnett went at it. Melendez’s floater was on-point the entire night. Most of his 17 points came from his signature shot. Hartnett couldn’t keep pace, ending the night with 12.

Melendez, who rode his bike from the Bronx to Booker T. Washington Playground on 108th street in Manhattan, got a little testy with other players—and talked a little bit of junk with the crowd—but proved that his game is legit.

“Yeah, I really thought I was gonna lose because of the legend, Jack and the sharpshooter, Tyson,” Melendez said, after falling behind early.

Melendez was able to right the ship and guarantee himself a spot in August 26’s championship game. There are three Tuesdays left in the season, so be sure to check fullcourt21nyc.com for updates.

Photos courtesy of Jon Lopez and Africano Micholiãno Fotografia

Previously:
Full Court 21 Opening Day Recap

The post Full Court 21 Week 3 Recap appeared first on SLAM.

The Chicago team fully embodied the city’s basketball reputation, as well as their celebrity guest coach Joakim Noah (along with Gilbert Arenas, who has tagged along to most of the cities thus far).

“Just remember who you are [and] keep your identity,” Noah told his players before the game. “Chicago has an identity when it comes to basketball. Guys go hard as hell and I respect that. Every time I step on the court, I try to represent that when I’m on the court. Any pick-up in Chicago, guys go hard as hell and I love that. That’s what I told them: play hard and play smart, too, because if we’re on the fastbreak, [don’t] try to do too much, just get the easy points.”

In line with their coach’s orders, Chicago jumped out to a 10-4 lead, including two tough defensive sequences when players met Special FX and Springs at the rim, rejecting potential highlight opportunities. Defense also spurred a 20-4 Chicago run at the beginning of the third quarter.

“The game was competitive, man, big ups to Chicago,” Baby Shaq said. “They give us a tough game every time. I can’t do anything but respect that.”

“They definitely came out hard, they weren’t backing down or anything,” The Professor said after the game. “We knew coming in that Chicago is one of the tougher cities so they’re not gonna [be pushovers]. I think some of them had played some college ball, so they came out real physical. It’s what we expected. The midwest, especially Chicago, is known for being real hard-nosed and physical, and they were skilled.

“It can be tough because we fly in and fly out every weekend,” he continued. “You just gotta try your best to get your rest, eat right. This was game seven of the tour, so we’re coming down the home stretch; a lot of us were tired, but I like the way we responded.”

One week earlier, the response didn’t come in time. Ball Up’s perfect record fell to “4 Years-and-1,” in the words of game MC Duke Tango, as Birmingham, AL (coached by Eric Bledsoe) gave the main attractions their first loss ever on the tour. With their backs against the wall in Chicago, Bone Collector and especially Baby Shaq made sure Ball Up left with the W.

“I consider myself the anchor,” said Baby Shaq. “I make sure we don’t sink. Everybody else keeps the boat afloat and I make sure we don’t sink. I don’t [do] anything special, it’s just that my toughness stands out.”

“I approach the game as the underdog, because they don’t expect us to lose, but they want us to lose. It’s like going to see Floyd fight. Everybody knows that at the end he’s gonna win, but they want to see what’s going to happen between the 1st round and the 12th round. We just stand tall until the clock runs out.”

Ball Up’s event organization was smooth and professional, and the city reciprocated the love. Chicago St.’s gym was filled to capacity, more packed than it gets for rivalry games between the city’s top high school teams.

“In Ball Up, we pick up where And1 left off,” said The Professor. “If you look at the style of play, you get the same uptempo style, but it’s more commercialized. And1 never tapped into the Hollywood media. We had ESPN, but they didn’t brand us and it wasn’t as organized. [Ball Up] is more of a fun family event, where as And1 it was kind of, ‘give you the jerseys and sneakers and go do your thing.”

In addition to a number of fan-friendly contests throughout the game, one of the night’s highlights came midway through the third quarter as Ball Up invited every kid in the gym onto the court for a mass Cupid Shuffle.

While the NBA is everyone’s initial hoop dream, Ball Up—and streetball in general—has provided invaluable experience for some and life-changing opportunities for others.

“I was just happy to be out there,” The Professor said reflecting on his 2003 And1 debut. “I thought that since I played and they took me on tour that it was just a few games. And that was enough, I had a blast that they even took me. So, for it to turn into a career that lasts this long, still going strong, I never could have envisioned it. It’s been everything. It’s been the only opportunity that’s been able to give me a full-time living playing basketball. I’ve had offers, but they don’t come close to what I get with this.”

Playground hoops helped mold Noah, too: “Streetball gave me a lot. I feel like it made me a better player, it made me tougher. I started playing streetball when I moved to New York when I was 13 years old. New York has a culture for streetball. I think it gives people a big opportunity, there’s a market for it, a lot of people come to watch.”

Noah, one of the most hands-on and accessible players in the League just hosted his own summer game, the third annual “One City” tournament (formerly known as the “Peace Tournament”), last week.

“Chicago has given me so much, it’s given me an opportunity as a basketball player to play in the NBA. It’s given me so much, I feel like it’s important for me to do my part and try to give back. Chicago is a great place, but it’s also a place that’s plagued with violence.”

Ball Up will continue its tour next week in Baltimore, before wrapping up with St. Louis and las Vegas after that.

The post Ball Up Visits Chicago appeared first on SLAM.

With a final score of 84-83, the Birmingham team was the first local team to defeat the Ball Up All-Stars in the four-year history of the Ball Up Summer Tour.

With the 2014 Ball Up summer tour in full swing, local teams in Chicago, Baltimore and St. Louis will take their shot at the All-Stars during the remaining tour stops. At the tour’s final event in Las Vegas, a team of MVPs selected from each city throughout the summer tour will be invited to participate in a two-day combine in which 10 finalists will be selected to play against the Ball Up All-Stars in a championship game. At the end of the championship game, one MVP will win a contract and become the newest member on the Ball Up All-Star roster.

The post Ball Up All-Stars Lost Their First Game in Four Years appeared first on SLAM.

A popular street basketball player died Thursday after tweeting “Thank God for another day alive” the day before.

 

James “Stixx” Williams, 34, of Brooklyn, died after suffering a heart attack during a game at Nike Pro City at Baruch College, the league said. Williams was married with two children.

 

“He was a fun-loving, warm kind of guy,” said Williams’ coach with the team Queensbridge, Lou Garnes. “He was a committed guy to the game of basketball, he loved the game of basketball and he was an all-around good guy.”

 

According to eyewitness accounts, Williams collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. A Nike Pro City certified trainer and a firefighter in attendance administered CPR, but he died on the way to a local hospital.

 

Williams was popular on the city’s streetball circuit, playing in a variety of leagues. Friends, former teammates and opponents — including NBA players Taj Gibson and Kemba Walker — took to Twitter and Instagram to express their grief.

The post NYC Mourns Death of Streetballer James “Stixx” Williams, Who Collapsed During Game appeared first on SLAM.

June 15 was the day the Spurs made “Ice Man” and “Dr. K” proud to have worn that uni back in the ’70s, but it was also Father’s Day, which meant there were old-timer games going on at multiple parks in the hood. If I have a choice between being a spectator and playing, I’m lacing up. So I skipped out on the last NBA game of the season and slid to “the Goat,” the legendary New York City court I grew up at.

On that Sunday, among the 300-plus at the Goat stood Mario Elie, an alum of the Goat and three-time NBA Champion. We used to run fulls together as teenagers in the early ’80s, and I’d always be nervous to be on his squad. “The Jedi,” a nickname Mario earned at the EBC tournament in Harlem, was All-City at Power Memorial HS, and no, he did not like losing. If a teammate hit the panic button and baked an apple (turnover), Elie was quick to scream on them. He kept that “win and stay on the court” pick-up bball attitude in the pros. Paid off lovely. He’s revered at our park.

Pick-up basketball, particularly outdoors, constantly informs the NBA, and has since influenced the formation of pro teams, for better or worse. Take a look at all the ugly jumpshots you see on TV during the season. Where do you think they were developed? Definitely not under the supervision of a coach. No. When a player has unorthodox form, more than likely that was born out of the playground.

When I see a teenager shooting a jumper off balance with both hands and no rotation in the park, I find it beautiful. They’re out there to have fun. Not everyone is on track to play for pay. Dr. James Naismith invented the sport to be played and used as an alternative to potential negative activity. In fact, he once mentioned late in his career that he didn’t create basketball to be coached, but only to be played. So if a kid is shooting a brick that makes dents in a metal backboard, more power to them.

I am less forgiving when it comes to the pros, though. How you gonna have bad form when all you have to do all year round is play ball? Players can submit to practice and repetition to improve their percentages, but ultimately, the root of the issue is the structure. And if your shooting coach is just grabbing your rebound and feeding you, they are doing you a disservice.

One might argue that form doesn’t really matter at all. If you look at Kobe, Carmelo and Durant, all have led the League in scoring and none, in my estimation, are pure shooters. They are all pure scorers. You can put 
LeBron and Wade in that group, too. All five have tendencies, at times, to shoot off-balance, even when wide open. You ever peep how their right leg kicks across their left in the air, and they land only on their left foot (like a pelican)? Imagine if a boxer tried to take a hit while grounded on one foot? These players are losing their center of gravity. Just imagine how many more points they’d score if they simply corrected this tiny little piece on their form.

The same applies to pure shooters, too. Stephen Curry’s game is bananas fun to watch. His release and follow through is perfect; however, his shoulders aren’t even square to the rim. He tilts. Same with NBA Three-Point Shootout winner Kyrie Irving. He gets buckets and doesn’t even have complete rotation on his jumper when the ball is in flight.

So the argument can be made that form doesn’t really matter when it comes to being a great shooter, so long as the player has confidence, practices and has plenty of repetition. I’d counter that with history, though. I’m not a stats dude, and I don’t play fantasy games. But I can tell you, without looking it up, that over time, over a career, strong fundamentals will reap better shooting percentages. It’s possible to shoot 50 percent and up from 10 feet and in with an ugly jumper, but those imperfections affect numbers the farther you get from the basket. Steve Kerr be my witness. Chauncey Billups, too.

Of course there are exceptions, but overall, you’ll find that the best career three-point shooters had their shoulders squared, elbow in line with their knee but not below their shoulder, arm in an L shape, shot the ball with their legs and guided it with their wrist. That simple. You don’t need to have Derek Fisher muscles to shoot from deep. The strength comes from your core.

Think of releasing the ball through an imaginary 10-foot tube surrounding you (that will give you arch and make it harder for a defender to block your shot). Players make the mistake of jumping as high as they can, and then shooting the ball at the rim (as if they were throwing a dart) because they’ve cocked the ball back too far (like throwing a football), which is unnecessary. Save your energy, and literally reach for the stars. Your shot should already be in motion while you’re rising off the ground so that you’ve released the ball at the peak of your jump. Essentially, don’t jump and then shoot. Just jump and shoot in one motion. It’s called quick release.

Once the ball is in flight, land on both feet exactly where you jumped from in a relaxed and balanced position. If you have perfect rotation, the ball will come back directly to you. (If your park doesn’t have nets, aim for the back of the rim. If your shot goes in, the ball will still rotate back to you.)

Don’t get it twisted; I love watching the aforementioned players. I just think that aside from the potential of seeing more points scored, ultimately it’s about respecting the game. Any of us who play in front of crowds have a duty to present it in an aesthetic fashion that pays homage to its potential beauty. I’m not saying everyone should shoot the same way. Not at all. But I do encourage improvement. Why wouldn’t I? Players and fans would benefit. Word.

***

Speaking of respecting the game, I’m not sure why NBA announcers always jubilantly say, “Eurostep!” when James Harden or Wade scores. I had the pleasure, the joy even, of watching Sarunus, Sabonis, Vlade, Drazen and Kukoc all play when the League opened its door wide in the ’90s for overseas players to splash, and I don’t recall any of them doing what would be referred to now as the “Eurostep.” I’m guessing the analysts are referring to Manu Ginobili’s move? Isn’t he from Argentina? You know, in South America?

This is in no way to take away from the European style of play. I’ve balled in 13 countries and 30-plus cities on that continent dating back to the ’90s. I’ve been in pick-up games against pros as well as exhibitions and tournaments against amazing outdoor amateur talent and have nothing but love for everyone I’ve met. But I’ve never seen anyone out there, in any court I’ve been to, do what’s called the “Eurostep!”

Back in 1981, I started playing every day at the Goat. That was my home. There was a dude there appropriately named “Lefty,” because, although he did own a right hand, he never used it. True “one-arm bandit” steez as we used to call it. We were playing a game of 21, and Lefty, as expected, went left. I slid my feet and cut off baseline. He had already picked up his dribble, so I thought I had stopped him, but boom. Lefty pushed off his left foot back toward the paint, shifted the ball in his hands across his chest, landed on his right foot and jumped off of it, and just layed me up like I was an overcooked angel hair pasta string.

I distinctly remember this moment because I felt helpless. I was also tight because in those days I was practicing my hardest to be ambidextrous. I’d brush my teeth, use my fork and comb my hair, everything possible with my left hand to get it as strong as my right, just so I could look correct on the court. In NYC, style matters greatly but ultimately because it has function. “Take what the defense gives you,” the older cats at the park would tell me. And here was Lefty, who did exactly that, but in a way that literally and figuratively skipped a step.

No one on the fence watching yelled out, “Euro!”

And Lefty didn’t create that move, either. The great Julius “Dr. J” Erving and Bernard King, two of the greatest scorers New York has ever produced, both did a side step en route to the sauce pan if there was a defender in their way. (Interestingly, both were stronger dribbling with their right hand, even when they were attacking on the left side of the court.) Neither moved laterally in as exaggerated a manner, as Manu or Harden does now, but they did change pace and direction in their motion.

Perhaps they learned this move from someone around their way in the ’60s. I don’t know. What I do know is that players from New York playgrounds who greatly influenced the NBA’s style eventually influenced the rest of the world, so it is more plausible that the Eurostep actually started here, got exported overseas, then came back as a revised import. Or something like that…

Will I miss watching the NBA this summer? I’ll be having too much fun playing ball at Booker T. Washington playground, where I’m doing the second season of my Full Court 21 Tournament. Come find me. Guard up. Shoot your ugly jumper, it’s cool. Let’s go at it. Talk smack if you want. Just don’t yell “Euro.”

photo by Jon Lopez

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Last week, ESPN ran an article titled “Playground Basketball Is Dying” based on their grossly out of touch supposition that outdoor courts in the U.S. are now empty and devoid of talent. The piece infuriated me! How could they make such a misinformed and discouraging claim? Let’s uncover the truth…

The two writers, Myron Medcalf and Dana O’Neil, intensely cover college ball for ESPN, which means they don’t experience the playground year-round. With the power of their platform, they were given access to a who’s who of b-ball including some retired legends. They failed to interview an active “park pick-up player” like me, though, someone who still plays (at age 47) and documents the culture.

Medcalf and O’Neil wrote: “The crowds that used to stand four deep are gone . . .”

In 2011, the Dyckman tournament in Manhattan staged one of the most talked-about matches in recent history. Neither roster boasted any NBA stars. The most recognizable player might’ve been Yatta Gaines, who the Utah Jazz picked up after a 10-day contract in 2010 (then waived the next season). “There were 3,000 people in the park,” Antonio Gil, author of The Game That Changed The History (Ediciones JC, Spain), shared. “Fans were lined up at 2 p.m. for an 8:30 game!”

I was there. I listened to announcer Joe Pope call the game while sitting on a parked car—across the street. There was no room inside the fence. People watched from the roof of the projects behind the court. The 1 train conductor even stopped the cars on the elevated tracks looming above the rim for a second to watch.

That summer also saw Kevin Durant drop 66 in the EBC tournament at Rucker Park.

Dyckman continues to draw big crowds this summer. I started my own tournament Full Court 21 last Tuesday, and counted 100 in the crowd on opening day. I had barely promoted it.

Medcalf and O’Neil: “The best players, young and old, want to be inside instead of out; they want organized games to showcase their skills, not pickup games to earn street cred.”

In 2008, former Defensive Player of the Year Metta World Peace wanted to improve his long range shooting, so he spent the off season playing pick-up in the Queensbridge Projects where he grew up. “True Warrior” went one-on-five against local pre-teens. Ron Ron wasn’t allowed to shoot inside the NBA three-point line. He didn’t lose one game all summer.

That same summer, World Peace won three outdoor tournament championships, including Together We Chill in Harlem, where his tooth got knocked out in the middle of a game. “True Warrior” picked the tooth up off the asphalt, threw it out of bounds, and kept playing.

The next NBA season, Artest improved to 40 percent from the three-point line and made the most threes in his career. In 2010, he used the toughness he learned on the playground to help the Lakers win their most recent Championship.

Medcalf and O’Neil: “I think a lot of guys don’t think it’s worth it,” said Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, who just signed a four-year deal worth $48 million.

Lance Stephenson and Kemba Walker, both worthy of NBA Most Improved Player Award consideration last season, went hard on the asphalt in 2013 at Gershwin, Brooklyn’s new tournament that everyone is talking about. Walker is a regular at Dyckman as well.

I wish ESPN had interviewed Stephenson and Walker, young players who recognize the value of playing outdoors and how it continuously improves their game.

Medcalf and O’Neil: “But the appeal of indoor . . . [is] also about safety. It’s easier to control an indoor space than an outdoor one. Buildings have walls and private entrances; you can’t put a metal detector at every park.”

Should we not allow our youth to go to movie theaters in Colorado, or grammar schools in Connecticut, or college campuses in Virginia? Violence is a problem everywhere. It’s a stain on America. Yes, innocent people have been murdered on our precious playgrounds, but I’d be willing to bet that basketball courts nationwide constitute a minority for likely places where gunshots are exchanged. Yes, sometimes a game gets heated and players get out of hand, but 99.9 percent of the activity produces a positive alternative to what our youth can be doing otherwise with their idle time. This was exactly the premise that sparked Dr. James Naismith to invent the sport in 1891. It’s also why NYC Parks & Recreation built 700 asphalt courts from the 1930s through the 1960s.

In the ‘90s, Baltimore founded a midnight basketball league. For the two hours games were played, crime went down 75 percent.

Not everyone has a student ID to access a school gym, or can afford a club membership, or be good enough to play on an elite AAU program. The park is for everyone, open all day, and free. Basketball has saved more lives than claimed it. “The playground is not the problem; it’s the solution,” veteran youth coach Sean Couch once told me.

Medcalf and O’Neil: “Even if the NBA stars are made to feel safe, they aren’t likely to show up . . . The fear of injury . . . has turned pros into occasional visitors . . . ”

ESPN would better understand what pros think than I ever could, but why point out an issue without proposing a solution? Message to NBA stars: don’t believe the hype. Pros are on wood all year round, and can still get hurt. The worst occurrence I can think of would be Shaun Livingston. That didn’t happen on the asphalt. Derek Rose, John Wall and Stephen Curry have all gone down on the shiny floors as well. What’s most important is diet, training, stretching and general health. Metta, Lance and Kemba all seem to be doing fine. Earl Monroe and Julius Erving splashed the concrete in Chucks and both survived. (Monroe has had 30 surgeries since retiring from the NBA, but never on his knees.)

Medcalf and O’Neil: “Kids still want to play basketball. They still do play basketball, but not outside, not at playgrounds, not like they used to.”

While making the documentary DOIN’ IT IN THE PARK: PICK-UP BASKETBALL, NYC, my co-director Kevin Couliau and I filmed 180 courts throughout NYC’s five boroughs. I was born in 1966, so I’ve had the pleasure of watching ball outdoors in six different decades. So from a qualified position, I can say that there are more people playing 5-on-5, 3-on-3, 21, etc. in the park these days than in any other era, ever. Yes. And the majority of them are under the age of 21. We have footage to prove it! Watch our project on Netflix if you don’t believe.

Most adults over 30 will say that kids nowadays play video games instead of playing outdoors. They are just as out of touch as ESPN is, at least when it comes to New York City. I can’t speak on Louisville, DC, Philly, etc. as I haven’t spent as much time there recently. People who play pick-up here are like a secret society. There’s no social media needed (that’s why all apps for the sport have failed). They don’t tweet about where they’re playing, because if it’s a good run, they don’t want undesirables to find out and mess up the comp, or worse, for too many to show up because waiting two hours for next sucks. Media always ask me to list the top courts to hit, and I’m always hesitant to share. It’s like uncontacted communities in Brazil. They need to be protected.

I will share this: we are playing in the morning, at night, and the best runs aren’t at the same courts like Foster Park in Brooklyn where they were 40 years ago. Times have changed and the movement shifts.

For example, NYC Parks & Rec opened seven full courts under the Brooklyn Bridge this summer. Any day of the week, 3-on-3s are active on 14 half courts until 11 p.m. when the lights get turned off. That’s 84 players plus however many are on the side waiting, every day, for hours. West 4th St. legend Jack Ryan described it to me as “bliss.” But ESPN didn’t go there.

Medcalf and O’Neil: “Rucker is still Rucker, with all its resonance and meaning, but it is not . . . the one seen . . . with fans literally sitting on rooftops and climbing tree branches to get a view.”

It is true Rucker Park hasn’t been drawing crowds recently like it used to 10 years ago, but is unfair for ESPN to judge my entire town based on one singular court’s activity. There are 700 outdoor courts in New York, and 70+ summer tournaments. That’s unparalleled anywhere in the world. That’s why we’re the Mecca of playground basketball. And the swarms may not be at Rucker right this minute because they’re at Dyckman or Tri-State for the time being. Rucker will always come back because of its history, though, and this isn’t the first time it’s had a lull.

Back in the ‘80s, Bob McCullough’s Pro Rucker tournament lost steam to King Towers in Foster Projects and a young upstart named Greg Marius who was drawing triple parked cars outside his new tournament the EBC on 139th and Lenox. McCullough kindly passed Rucker Park’s torch (and permit) to Marius, who moved his hip hop infused games to 155th and 8th. The fans came along, and the fabled court’s modern era began.

Medcalf and O’Neil: “The problem at Rucker goes more to the root of the entire issue with playground basketball. There just aren’t enough players. Of course, it once didn’t matter who played, just that there was a game to watch.” 

There are enough players; it’s just that summer tournaments are victims of their own success. In the heyday of the Pro Rucker in the early ‘70s, Breevort in Brooklyn might’ve been its closest competition to draw away elite players like Fly Williams. There were only games at ‘55th on Friday and Saturday. The EBC at Rucker Park now goes four nights a week, and players have to decide if they’re going to play there or five to seven other options on the same night. Mr. Holcombe Rucker created a mold that has been duplicated everywhere. The Rucker is the standard that everyone aspires to. It’s what Q-Tip is for cotton swabs, or spaghetti is to pasta: the standard for which all else is measured.

And while it’s true that New Yorkers will crowd around to watch even scrubs play (so long as the game is competitive and someone is talking smack), when it comes to tournaments, it actually has always mattered who was playing. This dates back to the 1950s, when the Rucker was located on 128th and 7th Avenue and City College of NY star Ed Warner, NYU monster rebounder Cal “The Hawk” Ramsey (yes, before Connie Hawkins), and Isaac “The Rab” Walthour were the talk of the town and set off what would become the ooh la la of tournament for decades. The height was 1971, when an unknown Julius Erving became a rookie at Rucker. That’s the era that was photographed with hundreds on top of the roof, the overpass, the trees, the fence, all of that. What he and local legends Joe Hammond and Pee Wee Kirkland were doing on the court was unprecedented. So the massive crowd came, and was rewarded.

The same happened for Arnold Dugger, “High Jumping” Artie Green, “Master Rob” Hockett, “Dancing” Doogie, Ron “The Terminator” Matthias and Rafer “Skip To My Lou” Alston. The last player to splash the EBC at Rucker and really entertain the crowd was probably Larry “Bone Collector” Williams about 10 years ago. Kids loved his “bop bop” and he became an audience favorite.

I have no doubt in my mind that there is a young ballhandler out there who will emerge shortly and bring the ruckus back to Rucker. It’s inevitable. This is New York, and playground basketball is far from dead.

Medcalf and O’Neil: “High school players in search of scholarships and exposure spend May, June and July in indoor, showcase tournaments and AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) events, not parks.”

The AAU world is not perfect. If you think the park isn’t safe for kids, imagine the terror they experience in the cases that have been exposed where they are sexually abused by coaches, or the confusion they experience with trying to meet expectations from scouts, college recruiters and potential agents. The gifted ones are looked at by some brands as commodities, not teenagers learning to deal with pimples and self-esteem.

That said, as much of an outdoor advocate as I am, I’m not mad at AAU. At all. If the youth are playing indoors, celebrate it! The important thing is that they’re playing. And although I’ve never been to an AAU tournament myself, I’ve heard that the overall coaching is pretty poor, so the kids are performing similar to how they would on the playground—being creative, going for highlights, and having fun. Add some travel experiences and free sneakers, and I don’t imagine many people in any sport would frown at an opportunity like that.

Ultimately, people can knock AAU, travel teams and all that, but you wanna know something really cool about it? We haven’t lost any star players to drugs, street hustling, or violence in a long, long time. The days of the under-achievers like Earl Manigault, Lloyd Daniels, Joe Hammond, Pee Wee are long gone. Those dudes got caught up and made horrible decisions. 1985’s No. 1 high school recruit Benji Wilson didn’t make it past his senior year because he was murdered. That wasn’t his fault.

When’s the last time a kid who was predicted/expected to be an all-star didn’t make it? Felipe Lopez? Lenny Cooke? They didn’t fall short because of crime. They weren’t shooting heroin like The Goat did in the ’60s. The last player who dumbed out on drugs was Chris Herron. Things have changed. And AAU might just be one of the reasons.

All parties of the universe exist best when they are balanced. I’ve often suggested to coaches to encourage their players to go outside and play in an environment where there are no refs, no schedules, no uniforms. Figure it out and have fun while you’re at it.

Just the same, I’ve told enough players in the park to play some organized ball to learn the game as best possible from all angles. Each side informs the other. I’ve won plenty of games with a simple fake pick to a V cut. I don’t have to dribble 90 times in order to score.

Ultimately, ESPN’s main premise to prove that “playground basketball is dying” is that elite U.S. players are no longer playing outside. I would agree that nationwide it seems as though the top high school athletes are not hitting the parks like they used to, but that doesn’t mean at all that the culture is dying. Years after inventing the sport, Dr. James Naismith was once quoted saying, “I didn’t invent basketball to be coached. I invented it to be played.” Naismith didn’t envision pro leagues and AAU. His goal was what he called “muscular spirituality.” And with the amount of people playing, whether they be scrubs, or parents shooting around with their children, or old-timers who can only play half court, or teenagers who love the game but got cut from the varsity squad, the “clave” is that people are playing, loving the sport. Not just in the U.S. Worldwide. China has over 315 million registered ballplayers. You read that correctly. That number exceeds the population of the United States. Kids in the Philippines make their own rims, hang them in the middle of the street with oncoming traffic, and play barefoot or in flip-flop slippers. In droves. All day. I witnessed this with my own eyes. New York may be the mecca, but Manila may very well be the place that the fever is highest anywhere in the world.

So who really cares if the top 200 ranked high school players and 300-plus NBA athletes aren’t in the playground? Does that constitute the death of a sport when there are millions and millions dedicated to it, and millions more just being introduced to the love? Besides, if there’s ever another NBA lockout, or if AAU ever crumbles from its own corruption, all those elite players will return back to the essence (like we saw in 2011).

ESPN ran an article that was inaccurate. Does this mean that ESPN basketball reporting is dying? Of course not. But don’t believe the hype. Playground basketball lives on.

Photo by Jon Lopez

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The rules of Garcia’s tournament are simple. Every player who steps on the asphalt is a one-man team. With every change of possession, the ball goes the other way. Players have to get to 21. If a player airballs a free throw, they go back to 0.

In the first game of the night, returning champ Matt Thomas, aka The Fullback, needed overtime to take the W. It was the first overtime shootout in Full Court 21’s history. Thomas and newcomer Tyson Hartnett aka Clark Gable​ both broke ICE (getting to 21 points and hitting all three free-throws), but​ couldn’t get over the hump.

Thomas and Hartnett then went into OT. The crowd started gathering as the pair exchanged three-pointers. After a few misses, Thomas drilled one home, leaving Hartnett with a chance to match. It was off the mark, giving Thomas a spot in Week 1’s qualifying game.

The qualifying game is the last game each week. The winner is guaranteed a spot in the championship on August 26.

In Game 2, Kimberly Goodley beat out three other women for her spot in the qualifying game. Goodley is a regular at the West 4th Street summer league and a returnee from last summer, when she held her own against the guys. Bobbito, with his bullhorn, wouldn’t stop talking about Goodley’s West 4th shorts and how nice they were.

Game 3 had familiar faces and a new one. New York City playground legend “BlackJack” Ryan suited up. Dewayne Hamlin aka Moe Lasses,​ a staple from last year’s tournament, showed up with more strength and a tighter handle. But Jeff Leider made sure everyone knew who he was.

On his first touch, Leider busted down the court for an uncontested layup. He gobbled up loose balls and fought the other four players on the court for every rebound. His free-throw stroke was on display, too. He took advantage of nearly all his freebies.

Leider, a 5-10 personal trainer, said it was all part of his plan. “I was trying to be super aggressive because they’re not going to call fouls out there,” Leider said. “I knew it was going to be intense.”

Leider won running away. He had two crazy spin moves and two and ones.

Week 1’s qualifying game was between Thomas, Goodley and Leider. Things quickly got chippy.

With a crowd of kids hyping up every play between Leider and Thomas, and people lining the sidewalk, we had a battle.

Thomas and Leider bodied each other as much as possible. The crowd clapped and yelled when Thomas made Leider wobble, but the newcomer didn’t back down at all. Other than a filthy Tim Hardaway-esque crossover and up-and-under layup by Thomas, Leider was in full control. He got up to 20 points and had three chances to win the game. But he airballed a free throw, went back to 0 and eventually Thomas was able to eek out the W.

Goodley played well, finishing with 9 points and a little shake that left Leider in the dust. After going back to 0 with six minutes left​, Leiderfinished with 6.

The lack of calls was all good with Thomas. “I train physical,” Thomas said after the game. “I’m used to playing intense. If I can train intense, the game is a cake-walk.”

Thomas has a spot in the championship game on August 26 and a chance to defend his title. Next week’s games start at 6 p.m. EST on July 29 at Booker T. Washington playground. ​Check fullcourt21nyc.com for complete info.​

Images courtesy of Jon Lopez.

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The first annual EBC Celebrity Challenge brought the Rucker to Brooklyn. The famed streetball league collected some of the best players from New York, L.A., Philly and DC for a three-game showdown at the Barclays Center on Sunday night.

Celebrities speckled the stands (LL Cool J, Teyana Taylor, Fabolous, Busta Rhymes, Jadakiss, Stalley and Nya Lee to name a few) as the teams took to the herringbone hardcourt. Guest coaches Big Sean, Kendrick Lamar, French Montana and Wale patrolled the sidelines and controlled the crowd with performances during intermissions.

Team NY and Team L.A. went head to head in the first match of the night. With pros like Austin Daye, Marcus Williams and Jordan Hamilton, L.A. jumped out to an early lead and was well ahead going into halftime. But 5-9 guard Malik Boothe aka Kevin Hart took over for Team NY in the second half to lead the home team to a last-minute victory.

The win advanced Team NY to the championship game, where they were met by the Wale-coached Team DMV. Wearing Foamposite Supremes, Folarin led his team past Team Philly in the semifinal and continued the momentum against Team NY. New York was rested, but perhaps too much, as they couldn’t find an answer for the DMV’s backcourt of Jarrett Jack and Nolan Smith.

The basketball didn’t feature all the crossovers and dunks that one would expect from an EBC event, but the newest Net stole the show at Barclays. If Sunday night was any indication, Jarrett Jack may be on his way to becoming a crowd favorite in Brooklyn.

Shout out my NYC PHILLY and LA fam.. Me and my dmv team took home that chip today thx for all the love and all the fans who showed out today

— Wale Folarin (@Wale) July 28, 2014

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The three-on-three format is sure to test player’s mental and physical limit as they battle the outdoor elements as well as each other for a chance at competing in the championship game.

Hailing from the Southside of Chicago, Billy Rush’s career has been characterized by battling and staying the course, which should only aide in his pursuit to add to his growing reputation in the city.

After finishing high school at Thornridge (Dolton, IL), Rush would go on to transfer from two junior colleges before averaging 15.7 points and 7.8 rebounds as a senior at Robert Morris (Chicago) in 2010, while shooting 40.1 percent from three-point range.

After going undrafted, he had the opportunity to work out for his hometown Chicago Bulls and the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks liked what they saw enough to invite him to training camp. After not being picked up, he was allocated to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, where he would be waived just a few days later.

The Tulsa 66ers claimed Rush from the player pool in April of 2011 and even started 13 of the 14 games he played in, but was waived in January of 2012.

Rush would see the next season’s D-League draft go by without his name being called, despite a promise from his agent that two teams were interested in selecting him. He would receive a call in December from a team in Pro A Germany. He would play last year for a different club in the same league and while he was a long ways away from home, he relished the opportunity to be playing the game he love for a living.

While he is waiting on the next phone call that will embark he and his family on their next journey, Rush’s participation in Saturday’s tournament is simply another chance to compete and continue proving himself.

SLAM caught up with Rush to discuss his career and what he expects in Saturday’s tournament.

Team: No Days Off
– Billy Rush
– Geremie Allison
– Brandon Dagans

SLAM: Coming up on the Southside, where were some of the places you played growing up and that you play at currently?

Billy Rush: As a kid, I didn’t go too far. It was two outdoor parks and one indoor park. We had the Dolton Recreational Center, (John W.) Needles Park, where I did the other Red Bull tournament, and there’s the Greenwood Court. I would always play out there as a kid. I just pretty much stayed local. Even when I got a car, I didn’t really start knowing a lot of people in the basketball world, in the city of Chicago until I got in college. Besides the pro-ams, I would always do the Summer League. Right now, we have the Chi-League going on. Once I pretty much made a name for myself, I was able to get in that and I’ve been doing that every summer since. If you can get in that, that’s big throughout the city.

SLAM: How was your experience playing abroad?

BR: It’s an adjustment. I can definitely say it’s not for everybody. Over there, in a different country for so long, there’s so many things you have to adjust to, but that’s one of the things that I did enjoy about it. Learning new things about how other people live and it was some things I took from Germany that I wish we could have in the US, as far as the cleanliness and little ways of how they live.

They have no crime. I’m from Chicago and I’m sure everyone hears what people say about Chicago nowadays. People can’t even have guns out there. It’s almost like no worries out there. It’s just people living their lives, they’re healthy out there. There’s a big difference in the food. It’s so many things I took from it and that’s some of the things I enjoyed about playing over there.

The other thing is just how into the game the fans are. It’s something that you’ll probably never see. You see it in the US, as far as the college atmosphere but I don’t even think that can compare. Fans are chanting, beating on drums and all kind of things. They’re so into the game it’s unbelievable.

SLAM: With all the waiting you’ve done in your professional career, what are some of the things that have kept you motivated to keep at it when most would have given up?

BR: First off, my faith in God. It’s been told to me before and I’ve instilled it within myself that this is what I’m supposed to be doing. Just my faith, my family. They’ve always believed in me, kept me going because there were times where I wanted to give up, with just the constant waiting and being patient. My wife has always been here supporting me. I have a little guy who’s 5 and I know I can’t let him down. My mother and my whole family. They’ve always believed in me and always been praying for me. They’ve kept me grounded and my head on straight and that’s the biggest part of my career.

SLAM: How would you describe your game?

BR: I would say I’m an all-around player. I bring everything to the table. I always say, Don’t be one dimensional. Back in high school, I was just labeled as a shooter. I used to stand in the corner and shoot. That’s what the coach brought me up to do because I went from a sophomore to being on varsity and I was a little nervous. I didn’t know too much and didn’t want to do too much to go back down a level. Over my career, I’ve learned to just balance my game, be more of a defender, rebounding, being a hustle guy, a motivator, lifting up guys when they are down. I just try to do a little bit of everything.

SLAM: Experience with Red Bull?

BR: It’s been great. Just competing with guys that I haven’t even seen in the city and seeing other guys’ games, and just competing. It’s always fun to compete. To be a part of Red Bull, as big as it is. They’ve always done events with every sport that’s out there. To just be a part of that has been an amazing experience.

SLAM: Some will see your resume and ask why you are competing in the Reign tournament. What would you tell those people?

BR: It’s another opportunity to compete. I love the game and any opportunity to do something big, I’m going to be there. So regardless of what’s on my resume, on someone else’s resume—it can be NBA guys or guys that’s never played—we out there competing and it’s definitely going to be a competition with the rules and how we have to play and win. It’s conditioning and I feel like I got the upper hand there because I’m constantly working out and just ready to compete.

SLAM: How did you go about selecting teammates for the tournament?

BR: I had some guys in mind. They’re a little bit older, so now they’re thing is, if there’s not money, they didn’t want to do it. I had to go searching for guys and one dropped on me (on Monday) because he thought the tournament was on August 1. I know I have three for sure. So if we have to push it through the whole day, that’s what we have to do. We’ll be drinking a lot of Red Bull, I guess [laughs].

SLAM: What do you think helps give your team an advantage in a three-on-three setting?

BR: I thought about if we should go with a guard, a wing and a big and just how we could go about matchups. But with me being like a small forward, I would play the big and having two guards. You can help [on defense], but I feel like I can guard a big one-on-one, so I wouldn’t need much help depending on how big the guy is. Just having the quickness, I feel that’s going to be to our advantage. I felt like the quickness would help more so than size because I feel bigs would get tired after a while, with the layout of the tournament and how many games you have to play. I decided to go with me as the big and two other guards.

Previously:
Red Bull Reign Team Spotlight: Heart Squad

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Couliau just released asphalt chronicles, a collection of exclusive photos taken during his time in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. asphalt chronicles is 24 pages, independently funded and printed, by Couliau. He wrote all the captions and text in the issue. He, along with his “design master” Richard Bertetic, worked on the beautiful layout. The colors and pictures pop off the page. Text wraps its way around photos of Filipino basketball players. asphalt chronicles moves differently than other basketball publications, which was what Couliau had in mind.

In the issue, Couliau writes about showcasing basketball in its purest form: “This is not about NCAA, NBA, or the pros. This is not about the show, coaches and performance. This is not about money, sponsors and medias. It’s about the true essence of basketball, this universal movement taking place on playgrounds: pick-up basketball.”

The pictures were shot on 120mm film, which offers a perspective that a digital camera can’t capture, Couliau says.

“There’s a vibe you can’t get with a digital camera and [film] fits well to the history of the subject I’m shooting,” Couliau says. “There’s nothing better than traveling back home with a stack of films, dropping them at the lab and admiring the results a few days later. I also shoot digital, but it’s definitely not the same approach and mindset.”

Only 150 copies of the first issue of asphalt chronicles were printed. Couliau did the packing and numbering of each copy. He also added a one-of-a-kind wax seal on to every envelope that asphalt chronicles was sent in.

“In a way, I wanted to see how people would react to the project, but I also wanted to make it exclusive,” Couliau says. “In the end, basketball is basketball, you play with what you have. I always wanted to pay homage to the culture and aesthetic of the sport.

“In the Philippines, most of the kids don’t own sneakers. This economic reality is not enough to discourage the Filipinos. They’ll build their own hoops, occupy the streets and cross roads to play basketball.”

Couliau says that basketball is most popular with the Filipino youth. They play all day, rain or shine, even if they don’t have a pair of shoes.

“The game is number one there, they all know about it. [They know] all about the NBA as well and their leagues are really developed. I have traveled a lot to document and play basketball. I must admit, I’ve never witnessed such passion for the game.”

Couliau captured that passion with his photographs of kids playing in the street, without shoes, inside a court that Couliau says is smaller than The Cage in Manhattan. Makeshift hoops and weeds growing in the middle of the court don’t matter to these kids, Couliau says—all they want to do is play ball.

“Kids in Manila are really athletic, jumping out the park on every move. It was really impressive to see them elevating barefoot and blocking shots or taking fadeaway jumpers,” he says. “From what I’ve seen, they are way more into crossovers, jumpshots and dunks than posting up the guys down low. It has to be with the height obviously, the average there is 5-4 , so they have more of a flashy point guard style. Kids are the best. Each time I would take the camera out and release the shutter, they would always come towards me to be in the pictures.”

Couliau plans to release one issue every two months. The next installment will feature Dakar, Senegal, with 300 copies set to be printed. With the first issue completely sold out, keep it locked on asphalt-chronicles.com to find out when the second issue will drop.

The post Kevin Couliau’s asphalt chronicles Shows Pure Basketball appeared first on SLAM.

If there was any doubt in my mind about being able to find the gym after I stepped off the Q31 bus, it was quickly vanquished when I caught sight of thousands of fans waiting to see the Ball Up All-Stars play Team New York. I was walking for several minutes as I passed the crowd and reached the gates to pick up my credential.

Fans had come out in force for the showdown. Some were waiting patiently for hours and still had to be turned down at the gate. Thousands were left outside as the gym quickly packed to capacity.

You’ve heard about the Ball Up Summer Tour before, but here’s the basics you need to know. The Ball Up All-Stars consist of streetball legends like the Professor, Air Up There, AO, Bone Collector and Baby Shaq, to name a few. They tour through 10 cities around the country between June and August, play against the best local streetballers on each stop and eventually chose one player to join the squad. This summer’s tour will be broadcast on the reality TV show, Ball Up: Search for the Next.

When I got into the gym, the level of excitement was already at a fever pitch. DJ Envy was blasting the summer’s hottest beats; kids were clamoring for a chance to see the celebrity coaches Nick Young and Gilbert Arenas; and gentlemen, you’d have to be walking with your eyes shut if you didn’t notice the plentiful eye candy in this gym.

Beneath the multiple Big East championship banners were huge posters of the Ball Up team members, including local high-flying native Special FX, who grew up playing in nearby St. Albans, Queens, and played collegiately at St. John’s. It was a big night for the squad’s New York native, so much so that Special FX’s nerves were palpable when the vet took the court with the All-Stars.

“I was so nervous before the game, I’m not going to lie. All day I was just all over the place. My mind was racing,” said Special FX,  who played at Carnesecca between 2004-06.

But the nerves were quickly washed away early in the first quarter when FX threw down a powerful alley on a fast break that got the crowd to its feet. “After that first dunk, the nervousness was over. I was just like, I’m good,” FX said.

At 6-5, 230, Special FX plays a self-described “rugged and rough” style of basketball, that he cultivated first at St. Albans Park and later around the New York streetball circuit.

Of course, other than the hometown hero, the man everyone came out to see was the Professor, and dude didn’t disappoint. From the jump, Professor’s world-class handles were on full display, as Team New York defenders wouldn’t come close for fear of getting got. Since earning his nickname in 2003 on the AND 1 Tour, Professor has since become streetball’s standard bearer, and he’s stayed admirably atop his game for over a decade.

Of course, part of the fun of the tour is the “Search for the Next” element (the aforementioned reality series will air on Fox Sports Net in late August). Team New York, a collection of streetballers from the NYC area, had just one shot to make an impression against the best and they were obviously paralyzed by nerves in the first quarter.

They came around in the second quarter, bringing it as close as 41-44 with 7:45 remaining in the second stanza off the strength of superior outside shooting and excellent ball movement. One dude even caught the mercenary-strong Baby Shaq with a bounce off the dome, and followed with a celebratory twinkle-toes dance. In response, Baby mercilessly bullied his man in the post on the next possession for an easy two points and a mocking twinkle-toes taunt of his own.

But the game was just heating up.

“We’ve created a great family event around a fun, competitive sport,” said Demetrius Spencer, better known as Ball Up CEO, better known as Boss. “The NBA is like boxing. We’re like the UFC. And the Globetrotters are like the WWE.”

The comparison couldn’tve been more apt. The competition is real, the basketball is raw and pure. The showmanship, the taunts, the one-on-one battles. This is how basketball is played everywhere outside of the ultra competitive, business-dominated realms of the NBA and NCAA. It’s, in just a single word, beautiful.

“I think people love the showtime. They’re drawn to the highlights. That’s what makes people stand up at a basketball game, besides [the score] being close at the end,” Professor said. “So you’re always looking for that swag play or that crazy dunk, or that dude who just got shook crazy, and we just try to bring that out.”

Professor has consistently done it better than nearly everyone in the world for a long time. That’s why it was even more audacious when a New York baller called “Little Man” went back and forth with the streetball legend in the third quarter. For a good four-minute stretch, Little Man and Professor went for each other’s necks in a classic back-and-forth matchup.

Little Man displayed a zip-lock tight handle and a crazy quick first step. His moves were unrefined, but his heart and talent were immeasurable. He got the best of Professor on a few possessions, charming the raucous fans, and got got more than a handful of times by Professor on the other end.

When the third-quarter buzzer sounded, Little Man had risen as a new champion in New York.

MVPs of the game won’t be officially announced until the show airs this fall, but it’s a safe bet to say that man dubbed “Little Man” by the legendary MC (and birthday boy) Duke Tango, will be making an appearance in Las Vegas next month at the Ball Up Combine. From there, one player will be chosen to join the squad and earn a $100,000 pro contract with the team.

That’s the beauty of the Ball Up brand: You have fresh new talent constantly charging against some of the game’s most storied streetball legends.

Vets like Bone Collector and Air Up There are still putting in work and both stole the show many times on Sunday night, but it’s clear that their days of glory are on the horizon. That’s why in the past three years, Ball Up has added fresh legs in Mr. Afrika and G-Smith to catch oops, and the tight-handled Too Easy and Springs to throw them.

It’s an evolution that will be televised. The way it’s meant to be. Of course, the players aren’t thinking about that when they get on the court. It’s all about having fun and enjoying the moment. Something that’s even more special when playing on a hallowed court such as Carnesecca.

“(Former St. John’s PG) Mark Jackson is one of my really good friends. Escalade is his brother, and Escalade was my teammate for like eight years until he passed away,” Professor said. “I look up to [Jackson] a lot. I’m good friends with Jayson Williams, he played here. Chris Mullen, I love dude. I actually met him at Escalade’s funeral. So I always look up to him.

“This gym is epic. So much talent has played here. It’s awesome.”

When the final buzzer sounded, and the Ball Up All-Stars still reigned undefeated, and the crowd rushed the court for autographs and selfies with the players, that truly was it: awesome.

Photos courtesy of Adam Pantozzi

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