I’ve done my thing on the playground, I consider Dyckman Park the litmus test. You get put in the fire and if you come out your pure it means something. I know there are alot of folk from harlem and brooklyn who don’t feel that but it’s how I remain loyal to my neighborhood. To have my name mentioned in the same line with Kareem is a honor. I cherish my NBA opportunity and the moment my name was announced in the Garden back in ‘88.

you’re absolutely right. i cringed that summer season up at dyckman in ‘03 when i ran with you and the greer brothers. i had never felt so humiliated on a court during a game in my life. ken stevens straight baked me, questioning my place on the roster. i kept coming though. it was a learning experience. and it made me stronger.

in ‘05, i went up against headache in the quarterfinals of the last man standing 1 on 1 battle at msg. ken wrote an email to me the next day saying, ‘you still got it!’ cuz i fought headache to the end in a classic battle. and finally getting recognition from mr. stevens as a ballplayer felt invigorating. i’ve saved his letter even til today. dudes on the mic have a lot of power to affect a player’s performance, maybe more so than they ever imagine. only the strong survive, and that’s what makes dyckman park one of the hardest places to play in the world. ask cuttino mobley or anti-freeze. dudes just don’t come in there with what they’ve done at other parks or leagues. you gotta prove to that inwood crowd that you deserve to be there right then and now, every time. it’s very particular to that area. you and kareem abdul jabbar set the standard pretty high i guess, huh?!!!

The complex that develops with kids who play wildstyle and emphasize tricks is when their on the whistle skills are questioned. Those questions are being answered on the streets of NY at all the tournaments in the city. Ball 4 Real and AND 1 have come up against the streets best and
you see cats like AO get busy and others like the Professor struggle.

It answers itself if its deemed important to that player that gets killed one day on the playground. A real player comes back, pulls his socks up and tries again. I watched my man Bobbito Garcia get better and better as a 40 year-old player on the playground. He started playing with me out in Dyckman back in 2002 and Ken Stevens dissed him and called him the “writer.” He didn’t play particularly well but he didn’t MAKE AN EXCUSE.

He does his thing on the streets now and has respect as a straight up baller whether he gets baked or not. As for myself, straight up when I played, no one wanted me to guard them full court, ask someone and they will tell you
I was one of the best on the ball defenders and open court
on the run fast break finishers in the city in the 80’s and early 90’s. So when we talk we talk playground, we are official on both sides of the street game.

what i do frown on is that off the forehead dribble nonsense. that’s not trickery, just straight foolishness. i’ve never condoned that action, even told ea sports that they should delete that function out the video game. it’s disrespectful. cats get mad enough and want to fight me for trying to cook and bake them with extra ajax. why would i want to humiliate them by throwing the ball off their face? i don’t know whoever invented that, but i’d love to see it done away with. it just ain’t cool.