This past Saturday the And-1 Mixtape Tour made a stop at Temple University in North Philly. The game had some extra excitement added in when it was announced that Temple legend Lynn Greer would be ballin for the Philly squad. Greer was not the only surprise either, former And-1 star and Simon Graz product AO was in the building and ready to do battle against his former crew.

The game was bananas in true And-1 fashion as dudes were throwing oops and smacking ish off the boards. The loudest ovation of the night was for And-1’s star attraction, the Professor, yet he did not play well and was sent to the bench by Greer. Professor had fouled Greer on six straight possessions which threw the crowd into frenzy as the hometown hero was embarrassing the international star.

AO also did his thing and almost made And-1 player Silk fall down with a speedy crossover and behind the back move that had the crowd jumpin. Silk took his revenge out on a player from the Philly squad that was clearly shook out there playing with the big boys. This unnamed player also had AO yelling from the Philly bench about his lack of effort. I saw dude in the street after the game and he was mad chill and just grateful to share the court, but he should know that Philly players go for theirs and rep their city through hard work.

Throughout the game, And-1 announcer Duke Tango gifted the crowd with towels and autographed mini basketballs. Continuing a tradition that they established at the beginning of the tour, the players sat down after the game and autographed memorabilia and took pictures with fans. Philly definitely represented and the tour continues to be a highly entertaining, inexpensive way to cure your summertime basketball fix. (Obviously not necessary if you live in NYC.)

While the tour stop in Philly was a success, it did not happen without a little controversy. A dude by the name of Mr.T (seriously looked Reggie Evans type scary) had to be restrained at the half as he almost got into it with And-1’s Wolverine. The two had been talking trash and trying to one up the other for the entire first half, but things became ugly when Mr. T threw the ball at Wolverine’s head! While a fight never ended up taking place, it did take away from what was otherwise a great atmosphere.

For the hip-hop heads out there that are curious about who performed at the half, it was Skillz, who received no love from the Philly crowd until he was joined by Freeway which prompted everyone to go crazy. Both did their thing and even collaborated on some joints. They gave a solid 15 minutes which was an added bonus to an already great time. If you are in Springfield (the next and final tour stop) or a market that the And-1 tour frequently travels to (NYC, Philly, LA, Dallas, ATL etc) make sure to check them out. It is definitely high quality hoops at an affordable price.

My bro Adam gets up with Duke after the game.