It’s real to the mind, soul and spirit when a moment in time becomes a highlight. Ask Jay, Fat Joe, Jada, LeBron, Durant and Kobe about an entrance into an arena filled with 20,000 strong chanting your name. Don’t front on the similarity that a streetballer experiences when the crowd demands for a demonstration of skill. Citizens of the street know the call; it sounds like the moment a man or woman goes, “ahhhh, my favorite song,” and then rushes out on the dance floor to dance to the rhythm.
The connective energy morphs through the lines of memories that 14-year-olds riding on buses, cars or trains repeat to a friend, better at that moment than an ESPN/youtube highlight, at least to the ear, because a passion is being expressed from a young mind. There’s so much to the moment when it is passed on by the next kid, and when two or more street-verify and confirm, it’s an expression that catches fire.
It’s the interaction, the non-static realm of mind energy, that forces conversation, giving boys and girls the right to create a moment from memory. Yo, I need to write this down, I need to express myself. And so, if you can read between my lines, young and old, the read is real important. I read a report in yesterday’s New York Daily News that reading amongst teenagers is on the decline at record levels. So as the New Year approaches, here’s my top 5 worldwide streetball moments of 2010:
1. World Basketball Festival: No other event in the history of street basketball matched the way the pro and street basketball world converged on Rucker Park last August. A wood floor was installed, China represented on the NYC street level for the first time ever, and an EBC championship was played on the wood floor a week after the event.
2. AG Voice of Harlem: The head game announcer of the streets of NYC streetball and artist of the 2006 mega-hit, Chicken Noodle Soup (# 45 on Billboard), is the voice of NYC streetball and has been part of the scene for over 20 years. The No Music-Light Feet song launched a worldwide dance movement that still has kids around the globe dancing Harlem-style. No other rap artist has impacted the streetball scene like AG, and while Fat Joe, Jada, Jay, and Puff have time in the Rucker Park oven, AG bakes all day and hand delivers basketball knowledge with turntable rhythm like no other game announcer in the world.
3. La Fusion Streetball Team (France): 3-time champs of the top international streetball tournament – Quai 54 – are the kings of worldwide streetball after defeating America’s best (Sean Bell All-Stars and Atlanta’s Dirty South BBQ).
Photo: Courtesy of King of Hoops
4. Antawn “Anti-Freeze” Dobie: Over the past five years on the streets of NYC, Dobie has won MVP’s at EBC, Tri-State Classic, Fireball, and the Nike Tournament of Champions and I’m probably missing a few. While Corey “Homicide” Williams has put in the work (Homi has taken a few summers off), Freeze has been on the bricks for the past 5+ years straight without let up, continuously terrorizing guards with an in-and-out dribble that would trouble Kobe Bryant on a consistent basis. Being acknowledged as the top player in NYC is long overdue and I feel he would be the answer for any American squad looking to regain our status as the top street ballers in the world at Quai 54. How about an American All-Star team Streetball Nation?
5. Corey Fisher: Fisher went for 105 points in a summer league game that was reported on espn.com and many other media outlets. The game was mentioned as a hoax by the network but was confirmed in Bounce Magazine’s latest issue. It’s official, and I need all the haters out on the NYC streets to take it easy, easy, easy (and yo, say it real West Coast Mexican-style), you’re barking like dogs that get pulled away from a hydrant. I still love ya, and fellas, the game is big enuf for all involved. Next stop for Nova – Final Four.
