I wound up missing this runner, and a couple of other shots, but still had a mad good time! Photo: Antonio Gil.

On July 19th, the “Circle” (114th St. bet. 5th Ave./Lenox) in Foster Projects hosted the 3rd Annual “Wounded Knee” Legends Classic. The court was the location for the King Towers Tournament from the ’60s to the early ’80s, and now plays host to the world-famous Kingdome affair. Co-Founded by Freddie Myers and Desmond Donaldson, the WKC brings back KTT all-stars to the park where many of them made their name, including 1980 MVP Eddie “Sundance Kid” Davis, ‘06 MVP Andre “Corky” Ortiz, and former NBA guards Kevin “Will Power” Williams and ‘07 MVP “Disco” Fred Brown. In fact, they all played on the same squad! Yes, they were stacked with those four plus Ron “Terminator” Matthias and former NBA guard/AND 1 coach Steve “All Day” Burtt.

I, unfortunately, was on the other squad and we of course got waxed, pero no me importa because I’d take an L any day just for the opportunity to compete against these dudes. It was an honor to be on this court with them, and there were some plays where I watched in awe. “Disco” Fred, at 6′ 3″, dribbled no higher than his ankles through a trap, then went between his legs three times, sliced through two bigs and dipped a bisquit for dos. The crowd went “AAAH!” It could’ve been 1981 or 2008. I never got to experience the first wave of King Towers, so I’m glad to experience in its current form today. No doubt. Big ups to Georgie Sweet and Santos Negron for giving a brother a shirt and some burn. Read about last year’s Wounded Knee here.

And get well wishes to “Meat Loaf,” who literally wounded his knee during the game. Hoping to seeing you reffing games again soon my brother.

Bless.