photo: big blue history.net
He stood 6′8″ carrying a chiseled 240 pounds. By the time he left the Unversity of Kentucky for the NBA, the world knew him as the “Monster Mash.”
During the intense game action that went down between the lines, whether it was on asphalt strewn with broken glass, Rupp Arena or on the NBA stage, he was always a textbook example of versatility. Pulling up from 23 feet to bang a three, dominating in the post, snatching rebounds or running the show in the open court, the man could do it all. And then some.
Jamal Mashburn was born in NYC in 1972 and everything about his game was nourished outside, the ball bouncing and banging off steel backboards blending into the rhythm section of the urban soundtrack.
His home court was the hallowed ground of the Holcombe Rucker Memorial Playground in Harlem as he came of age only a block away in the Rangel Homes on 155th Street .
Some of the ingredients that blossomed years later were earned the old fashioned way, by simple inheritance. The dazzling footwork and competitive spirit was handed down by both parents.
His mother, Helen, was a high school sprinter and his father, Bobby, was a former pro boxer with a mean left hook that earned it’s own nickname, “The Mash Smash.” Bobby, a NYC cop, fought Larry Holmes and Ken Norton during his career, in addition to serving as Muhammad Ali’s sparring partner for a stretch.
photo: big blue history.net
But the beginning of his journey was inauspicious.
“When he was younger, Jamal had a hard time even getting chosen for a team when they played in back of the building,” his cousin Russell Glover once told Bill Rhoden of the NY Times. “They called him a big baby, said he would never make it.”
But the hours invested on the asphalt – playing with and against skilled, bigger and older players, in an environment where hoops is as essential as oxygen – yielded a monster in the making. Mash started running with the revered New York Gauchos program at the age of twelve.
photo: big blue history.net
In high school at Cardinal Hayes, however, Jamal had a rep for being lazy. But by his senior year in 1990, that label quickly evaporated. There were many high level college prospects in NY’s Catholic league (the CHSAA) that season including Christ the King’s Khalid Reeves, Jamal Faulkner and Derrick Phelps along with Tolentine’s Adrian “Red” Autry and Brian Reese.
Mash was much less celebrated, in part because his HS coach Tom Murray had restricted him to playing solely around the basket. But during his senior year, Murray unleashed him, realizing that he was the best ball handler and shooter on the squad.
photo: jamd.com
Mash played every position on the court and Cardinal Hayes went on to win the city championship, beating All Hallows 52-46. Jamal had 18 points and 7 rebounds in that championship game, while helping hold Shawnelle Scott to only two. It was Cardinal Hayes’ first city title since 1944.
He hadn’t been named a McDonald’s All-American and the word was that he didn’t have the disposition to dominate on the next level. But Rick Pitino, who was attempting to rebuild the University of Kentucky’s legendary program after the fiasco in 1988 (which was under head coach Eddie Sutton’s watch) caused by a cash stuffed overnight package sent from the school’s basketball office to recruit Chris Mills, saw the diamond in the rough.
photo: big blue history.net
When word came out that Mash was heading for Kentucky to play for the demanding Pitino, a coach notorious for converting potential into achievement thanks to taking the Billy Donovan and Delray Brooks led Providence squad to the ‘87 Final Four, the doubters opined that he’d never fit into a system of pressing and running.
But Christ the King coach Bob Oliva saw things differently.
“I said at the time that it (Mashburn playing for Pitino) was like giving an atomic bomb to a terrorist,” Oliva told Alexander Wolff of Sports Illustrated.
And, by golly, was he right. After deferring to his teammates as a freshman while dropping 13 a game, as a sophomore he was ripping the nets for 21 per. During his junior year, and last in college, he was scorching for 25 a game.
He became the centerpiece of a rebuilding project that would ultimately bring Pitino and Kentucky a National Championship. By ‘93, the program had risen from the ashes and Mash led them to the Final Four, where they lost to Michigan’s Fab Five in overtime, 81-78. He had 26 points and 6 rebounds in the game, but fouled out with 3:23 left and that was all she wrote for the Wildcats.
In ‘96, Kentucky won it all and even though he was in the pros, the title does not land in Lexington without the domino effect created by his three year run from ‘91-’93. Mash was the program’s most important modern recruit, the one who made other top flight players from around the country want to play there.
photo: jamd.com
During his rookie NBA campaign, Mash led all first year players while scoring 19 a game. By his 2nd year, along with Jason Kidd and Jimmy Jackson, The Mavericks were a force to be reckoned with as Mash became one of the youngest players ever to drop 50 in a game.
Knee injuries eventually took their toll, but he gave people the business during his ten year career from ‘94-’04. His last year in the league, he avg’d 21. He’s one of only 6 players to average more than 20 per game in their final season. The other five were Jerry West, Larry Bird, Drazen Petrovic, Reggie Lewis and Michael Jordan.
photo: jamd.com
He was as unselfish a prolific scorer that one could see, with an understanding and appreciation of the game that was well advanced. In the pantheon of “The Playground Gave Us…” series, Jamal Mashburn is near the top.
Without the Uptown asphalt, Kentucky doesn’t come back from probation to regain it’s elite status in college hoops and the world is not blessed with one of the nicest cats, both in terms of ball and as a person, that the game has ever seen.
He was the complete package, whose domination and artistry should be cherished by anyone who calls themselves a basketball fan. He was, indeed, The Monster Mash.
THE PLAYGROUND IS NOT THE PROBLEM. IT IS THE SOLUTION!
January 5th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Elliot Rosado says:
I seen him play at EBC with Mousey after his freshman year at Kentucky. You can tell then he was going to be a pro.
January 5th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
ali says:
you could definitely see that eliot. pitino said, while mash was in college, “from coaching charles oakley and bernard king and watching karl malone and kevin mchale, i know about nba moves, and jamal has all of theirs.”
he was unstoppable. take you inside, outside, grab boards, run the break, dish it off, mid-range, whatever.
January 5th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Blk Caesar says:
Nice way to get back into the Monday grind after the holidays… Mash had a complete game. That high arching fade of his was a sight to behold man.. Without question Mash put Kentucky back on the map and that game against the Fab Five is a classic. I wish they would re-broadcast it on ESPN classic one of these days.. Man I miss the early 90’s!
January 5th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
ali says:
blk cease,
you know i had to come correct out the gate in ‘09. i’d been saving this one for months to kick off the new year.
January 5th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
true balla says:
by far one of the most talented underachievers in the past 20 years. he was sooooo good
January 5th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
ali says:
true balla,
just wondering what you mean by “one of the most talented underachievers”?
January 5th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Blk Caesar says:
Yeah.. I was wondering that myself? He had issues with his body, but when he was even marginally healthy dude was a beast. I think “underachiever” might be the wrong word for Mash. When I think of talented underachievers I think of guys like Tim Thomas… Ali, you came out the gate “Secretariat” strong with this one!
January 5th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
40 cal says:
A real ball player, on the court or if you wanted to win a couple of quarters for some chips and juice you just picked mavricks in nba jam him and j kidd
January 5th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
Keyes says:
In these apocalyptic times, Mash makes the title “The Beast” a compliment. All around talent. Man, i’m looking 4ward to your articles in ‘09 Mr. Lee!
January 5th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
BOSTON says:
TRUE BALLA “UNDER-RATED” MAYBE THE BETTER TERM.AND YOUR RIGHT ABOUT THE TALENT LEVEL.ALI GOOD JOB AS USUAL.
January 5th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Casey Lee says:
Ali,
Great article! I still have his “Champion-brand” Kentucky jersey in my closet. Everyone’s like who’s that? I’ve got everything from Antoine Walker to Jamaal Magloire haha
January 5th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Casey Lee says:
As in people think that #24 Kentucky jersey is Walker, Magloire, etc*
January 5th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Valeriani says:
Ali, another great piece. Of course I knew about Mash and saw him play during his NBA years, but you dropped a lot of great knowledge about his early years that I really didn’t appreciate before. Keep ‘em coming!
January 5th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
ali says:
when i think of underachiever, i think of a dude like darius miles – cats with scintillating physical talent and “potential” that never put it together. Mash was the entire package and was giving it to cats even when he wasn’t fully healthy.
i just wish mash, jimmy jackson and j kidd could have played and matured together into their primes.
January 6th, 2009 at 5:26 am
Inspiredworlds says:
@ Ali: I totally agree about the 3 J’s. I wish they could have done something spectacular rather than fight over toni braxton
Monster Mash was pretty nice when he was balling with the heat as well, when they had Zo and T-Bug.
January 6th, 2009 at 9:54 am
ali says:
i guess toni braxton was the yoko ono of the dallas mavericks. she must have some incredible lovin’. if she manages to break up me, bobbito and sean couch, i’ll be sure to write a tell all book.
mash did some work on those heat teams with zo and timmy hardaway, along with thunder dan, pj brown and voshon leonard.
and those hornets teams were no slouch either with jamal, david wesley, baron davis, scott burrell, eddie robinson, derrick coleman, lee nailon and jamaal magloire.
January 6th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
ali says:
blk cease,
i dearly miss the days of yesteryear as well. kentucky had a nice crew with some ny/nj representation with mash, rodrick rhodes and andre riddick. tony delk was a bad man at kentucky as well.
that final four in ‘93 was well matched- mash and the aforementioned wildcats, the fab five of michigan, reese, phelps, montross, donald willimas and lynch at unc and one of the most highly underrated college backcourts in adonis jordan and rex walters at kansas.
January 7th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Blk Caesar says:
Ali you bringup a good point about that Kansas team.. People forget how good they were with the aforementioned Jordan and Walters.. They also had Steve Woodbury and Shaq’s sparing partner Greg Ostertag… That game against Calbert Cheaney and Damon “recruited in middle school” Bailey for them to get to the Final 4 was a good one too. Is it just me or did it seems like there was just so much more NBA caliber talent spread across teams back then. Picking the All-American
team back then was tough b/c you had so many cats that were so good.
January 7th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
illest says:
like sadat x said my man mashburn is killin em down in dallas.
January 7th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
ali says:
yo cease,
how smooth was calbert cheaney at indiana? i vividly recall him going at the fab five in big ten play. he was a great college player.
there was some great talent spread out around that time – van exel at cincy, grant hill and hurley at duke, penny at memphis, rodney rogers at wake, jr rider at unlv, terry dehere, jerry walker at seton hall, the big dog at purdue, chris mills at arizona, allen houston at tennessee, corliss williamson and scotty thurman at arkansas, lawrence moten, adrian autry and john wallace at the ‘cuse, michael smith, eric williams at providence, kevin ollie, scott burrell, donny and donyell marshall at connecticut,joey brown, junkyard dog, othella at g-town, eric mobley and jerry mcCullough at pitt, david cain, felipe lopez, lamont middletonn shawnelle scott at st john’s, kerry kittles at ‘nova, etc.
the college game is still bubbling with talent, but you saw cats marinate for 3 or 4 years for the most part back then and when they became pros, they were a little more mature and seasoned.
January 7th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
ali says:
illest,
you droppin’ some sadat x on ‘em? happy new year bro and glad to have you back in the playground gave us discourse. all we’re missing is the funknificent one. yo funk, where you at?
January 7th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
illest says:
guaranteed a little derek x. definitely time for some new playground gave us….speaking of where something is at? wheres my bounce 18? i know the bounce reps. on here have no control over that. i need the physical copy. i see the online though. what up with that i couldve saved some money!!!!its all good. its well worth it.
January 7th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
illest says:
ali…the nba game is younger now as well. they were men back when players stayed 3 and 4 years.
i dont know how has masn network on here but they have been showing some ill 80s college basketball games. they showed 85 cuse vs georgetown when pearl punched ewing in the stomach. and they both stayed in the game!!!no way that is happening now. they also showed st johns vs gtown 85, unc vs. virginia 83, and kentucky vs. unc from around that time.
January 7th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
ali says:
nah illest,
you could have saved some $ but there’s nothing like having the kwan in your hands. but you definitely should’ve received your copy by now.
yeah man. i’ve been peeping some of that masn. i get really peeved at the espn classic programming, i guess because i feel like they should be showing those games, and others like them on a consistent basis.
the league is definitely younger and less skilled. my favorite game was syracuse v. georgetown pearl’s freshman year in the big east championship. mr. washington had people shaking their heads in disbelief.
and it wasn’t that long ago where you saw some monster, powerhouse squads – where guys stayed together and ruled college for a couple of years. think about it, some of the best teams ever of recent vintage – ‘96 Kentucky a.k.a the untouchables being the best of ‘em.
9 cats from that team went pro – tony delk, antoine walker, walter mccarty, ron mercer, derek anderson, mark pope, nazr muhammad, wayne turner, jeff sheppard.
but what florida did back to back in ‘06 and ‘07 w/ joakim aka lil’ yannick, al a.k.a. lil’ tito, taurean a.k.a. lil’ syd, corey brewer and the sharpshooter humphrey was impressive too. so the young boys get some love too.
January 7th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Blk Caesar says:
Calbert Cheaney was really smooth at Indiana and you are correct he did give the Fab Five fits in Big Ten play. the college game does have talent still, but maybe I am stuck on memory lane but there just are not as many players or teams I am running home to catch on tv like I did before. Although I will be watching Duke vs. Davidson tonight.
January 7th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
ali says:
just caught steph curry vs. duke. he’s be even more of a monster if he played with a blake griffin or hansborough.
i think we do tend to get stuck on memory lane, cease. but we did get to watch guys grow into special players through their development on the college level and in the process, witnessed some phenomenal teams that had a spark of all-time greatness.
watching ewing for four years at g-town or ralph sampson at virginia or even tim duncan at wake forest just won’t happen on that scale anymore and the college game does and will suffer as a result.
January 8th, 2009 at 8:31 am
illest says:
ali…..that kentucky team could have won every year. espn classic hasnt been the same since it was classic sports network. espn has the rights to a lot of that and never shows it. and that cbs college channel used to show some of those old big east games as well.
January 8th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
ali says:
yessir illest. i’d put ‘96 kentucky up there with the jordan, worthy and perkins carolina crew and the unlv squads with greg anthony, anderson hunt, the plastic man and grandmama. i think those teams could have taken out kareem and bill walton’s ucla squads, as well as the undefeated ‘76 hoosiers.
my ultimate sweet 16 would be pat’s mid ’80s hoyas, ‘96 kentucky, that early ’90’s runnin’ rebels crew, ‘82 carolina, the fab five, phi slamma jamma, the recent florida gators, st. john’s with the truth, mark jackson and chris mullin, uconn with emeka and ben gordon, kenny’s georgia tech squad, arkansas ‘94, grant hill and hurley’s duke squads, kareem’s ucla teams, melo’s syracuse squad, along with the derrick coleman and sherman douglass team and never nervous pervis, milt wagner and billy thompson’s louisville crew.
and i wish i could get all those classic college games from espn, masn and cbs on demand.
January 8th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Blk Caesar says:
Now that is a great idea.. Have all those great college games on demand!!!! Wow!!!
January 8th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
ali says:
somebody needs to get at these sports programming execs and make that accessible. man oh man, i’d be in heaven.