The House of Hoops in Harlem (125th St bet. 7th/8th Ave.) Grand Opening, baby! The above mentioned all were NYC playground products or at least played professionally here. Along with Charles Barkley, we were panelists throughout two days of Q & As with youth groups, Nike/Jordan/Converse brass, and “two-fifth” shoppers.
(L-R) Kenny Anderson, Theresa Witherspoon, and little ol’ me. (Peep the Apollo Theater sign through the window.)
(L-R) Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Charles Barkley, Chris Mullin, John Isaacs, Kenny Smith
Before I proceed, let me give our younger readers a brief on how powerful the above crew was:
Kenny Anderson a.k.a. “Chibbs”: Considered The Nation’s Best High School Player Ever by many, 1st NYC player ever to be named All-City 4 years in a row, held the state all-time scoring record for over 15 years. NBA All-Star and now CBA coach with the Atlanta Crunk.
Theresa Witherspoon: Olympic Gold Medalist ‘88, NCAA Champion w/ Louisana Tech ‘88, NY Liberty Guard and WNBA All-Star. Now ABA coach of Westchester, NY franchise.
Julius “Dr. J” Erving a.k.a. “The Claw”: Rucker Pro Super Legend of the ’70s, ABA/NBA All-Star, Top 50 Greatest Players, Hall of Fame.
Charles Barkley: NBA Top 50 Greatest Players, ‘92 MVP, ‘92 Olympic “Dream Team”
Chris Mullin: Riverside Church AAU legend, two-time NCAA Player of the Year at St. Johns, NBA Top 50, ‘92 Olympic “Dream Team”
John Isaacs: Harlem Schoolyard Legend, member of the Harlem Rens ‘39 World Champion Squad (first all-black squad to be inducted into the Hall of Fame).
Kenny Smith: Molloy HS All-American, UNC All-American, NBA chips with Houston Rockets ‘94, ‘95.
So many amazing stories were shared. Mr. Isaacs recounted how in the ’30s he jumped straight from HS to the Rens to only make $150 a month. Doc reminisced about his Rucker days and how if thousands in the crowd spilled onto the court and hanging off trees couldn’t bring the best out of you, what could? Mullin spoke on how his teammates first had to walk him back to the train station after Riverside practices to be safe until Harlem heads started recognizing how nice with the pill he was.
Basically, House of Hoops was giving back to the community its own history. Personally, I think the retail space is 30 years late! I would’ve loved to have a joint like this when i was a kid! Word! Heads can pick up team flavors from their shoes to their hats (don’t think I didn’t see the Team Elite II Shox in white/burgundy), plus cop player exclusives that will only be carried at HOH. There’s even a lounge which plays mini-docs and behind the scenes footage of camps, commercials, and tournaments. I walked out of there fiending to play. No store has ever had that affect on me, but it’s very apparent that whoever designed it had me and every other die-hard ballplayer in mind.
HOH team wall
HOH sports culture wall
T-shirt bar where you can customize the color
No diss to Dr. J and Kenny A., but Jason Fox’s dancers may have been the most athletic people in the building! Ha! They killed it.
DJ KISS on the 1 and 2s. Mad cool peoples.
Mr. John Isaacs, the coolest 92 year-old you’ll ever meet in your life!
Nike BMOC Ralph Greene was reppin’ my Kool Bob Love Aubergines, NAH’MEAN!
Dawn Baxter with the buttery AirMax 90 boot.
Major big ups to Paul “PR” Rivera and Lori Krauss for putting me D with the whole program, and shout-outs to everyone else there throughout the week.
Bless
November 26th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Sean Couch says:
Bob:
Crazy dope panel B. C-Mullin had no problemo hittin’ jumpers in the elements back in the day. Kenny Anderson was real quick and elusive on the handle and Ken Smith and I shared a backcourt with Mark Jackson when we went three guards for Dyckman. It went sometimes to four when Steve Burtt or Kev Williams played.
The store looks real good. The Ken Sat display gives playground ball some real good light!
November 26th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Antonio Gil says:
Bob you’re lucky!!!
Barkley, Mullin, Anderson… I’ll go to House of Hoops in my next trip to NYC! FOR SURE!
Un abrazo tronco!
November 26th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
chris says:
Kenny Anderson is the reason I am a Nets fan to this day. My brother went to Molloy with Kenny, and I played many a game of 21 with him and others from that team in Hoover Park right across the street. I still play ball and practice my jump shot there today. Kenny was prob the coolest “great player” I ever met. That was back in like 89. I said to him and to my boys that whatever team Kenny went to, out of Ga Tech, that that would be my NBA team. Love Kenny..
Let me tell you something. John Starks was so jealous of Kenny and should have been thrown out of the league for that FLAGRANT foul he committed which in my opinion ended Kenny’s career. Damn that gets me so angry. He was mad that he was never 1/1000000000 the player Kenny was. Now I have to go to my boys crib and look at a poster called “the dunk”. What a joke! I could dunk on Jordan if I left my feet 5 secs before he did too! UGHHHHHHH
but I digress.
Kenny Anderson was and is the man. I wish I could talk to him again. He always used to break my balls cause I was a pain in the ass on the court.
The hi-light of my basketball career (lol) was when I came from behind Kenny in Hoover Park, stole the ball and went coast to coast for a lay-up. 89 styles!
Nets would have been contenders if petrovic hadnt passed away and vince wouldnt miss half a season everytime he cut his finger on the rim!
And of course, John Starks. Bum! Fuck all the glamour and glitz, I plan to get rich, I’m from New York, and never was fan of the Knicks! Rip Big L
November 27th, 2007 at 12:19 am
chris says:
for anyone not up on what type of player Kenny was:
copy and paste to your browser
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w0CHP5CHFc
November 27th, 2007 at 12:31 am
chris says:
and actually it was 88 that i played pick up with Kenny. My brother just peeped his year book and put me on. Sometimes you don’t think about things till someone brings it up. Thanks Bob!
November 27th, 2007 at 1:42 am
Jeremiah says:
Wow, I guess that proves my point from earlier when I said Serious Satellite is the best nickname out there right now, hands down. They got his name and face on a t-shirt being sold at Nike’s House of Hoops. That’s crazy. Big ups to Kenny Sat. That shirt is hot. Gonna cop me a couple. Whoever came up with that nickname is a genius and should be getting some compensation for that.
November 27th, 2007 at 2:55 am
Bakar says:
Whaddup! Been travelling awhile and came back to see mad articles. Love how they made the event more than just a retail store launch. Team kicks are nice, but the Beautiful Monster tee is delicious! Is it available for sale? P.S. It’s good to see Mr. Chibbs again..
November 27th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Jeff says:
Geez Bob, you butchered T-Spoon’s name. lol The Liberty are seriously playing themselves by not having her in that organization in some capacity….the empty seats prove it.
Is Chibbs serious about this coaching thing? Could we one day see him on a bench in the L or is he just passing time in the ATL? Damn right he was the greatest ever.
I’ve got to check out HOH this weekend. Is this a permanent retail space or just one of those temp throw ups?
November 27th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Reggie MIH Peters says:
Bob:
People need to take notes and recognize the great work that you are doing. I was very happy to see all of those positive images in one place. Especially in Harlem. Today’s athlete’s have a lot to learn. Keep on showing us the right way.
Reggie
November 27th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
cazomsw says:
I played against Kenny A( the name we gave him in harlem) back in 88 when he was with the church and i played with the bank. My boys still get me today with the story of me crossing Kenny A and he killing me the rest of the way. NYc ball in the eighties was crazy. I miss those times.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
for all you claiming ‘i crossed kenny’ and ‘i ripped him’ don’t forget that we are in contact with him now and may very well try to confirm these boasts! hah!
house of hoops is permanently on 125th St. between Adam Clayton Boulevard (7th Ave) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (8th Ave) directly across from the Apollo Theater, A,B,C,D,1,2,3 trains to 125th St, ask anyone which way to walk.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
chris says:
well, i was all of 10 years old playing sort of bs ball in the park so i cant claim too much.. haha i wonder if he even remembers! still the hi-light of my career tho.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Jeremy Ripley says:
Some of the best responses I’ve seen on this blog…good stuff all around!
November 28th, 2007 at 7:18 am
funkalot says:
Bob,
Please, for all of us non-new yorkers, give us real names and “mini bios” on dudes playing in the 38 and over league, like “Twin”. Who is he, what HS did he ball at and where did he attend college, etc.
Ps. I balled with Drederick Irving in Boston, right after he graduated. He ran with our Media-Allstar Squad and we put in much work for the two year period that he played with us. Also, on that squad were New York transplants Duke Holtzclaw who played at Northeastern Univ. and Tony “big head” DaCosta, Point guard with Dred at Boston University.
If it don’t stink, it ain’t funky!
Sincerely Funkin’
Funkalot
November 28th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
Funkalot-
I’ve known Twin for almost 20 years and don’t anyone who knows his real name. As you see with the above post, when i have the info, I definitely share it!
peace peace,
bob