Vote Smush Parker and other NYC Ballers for the D-League All-Star Game in Phoenix!

For the second consecutive year, the D-League will be representing at NBA All-Star weekend. This year’s festivities will be held in Phoenix, Arizona. The NBA All-Star game will be played on Sunday, February 13th, with the D-League All-Stars putting in work the day before at 2pm. Bobbito hit me off with some info regarding NYC players that can be voted into the game by you, the fans. NYC-bred players that put it down summer after summer include Smush Parker, Cory Underwood, Curtis Stinson, Larry Ayuso, and Gavin Grant. Read More »

JamesOn takes Yi to the rack!

Becoming the leading scorer in any state’s basketball history is a fairly impressive thing to do, but it is an illustrious position when the state is North Carolina. Outside the Midwest, it is difficult to find any place in the country that appreciates the round ball more than NC. Scoring 3,037 points during his career at Eastern Alamance High School, JamesOn Curry became NC’s all time leading scorer in 2004. A scholarship to UNC was in place and chance to certainly crack the Tar Heels rotation as a freshman was only months away. Curry’s career seemed so high, yet it would take some drastic turns that ultimately led to his current position of being out of basketball (for the moment) in 2008. Read More »

Darius Washington celebrating at Memphis

A forgotten son of Memphis Tiger basketball, Darius Washington Jr was recently let go by the Chicago Bulls and is again putting in work overseas. Just recently, Washington Jr signed with Ural Great of the Russian Super League after failing to find a seat next to Aaron Gray on the Chicago pine. It made me wonder if Washington will ever make it to the NBA? Sure he had a cup of tea with the Spurs last year, but once Tony Parker was healthy it was back to the D-League and the Austin Toros. Read More »

Jamel Thomas played for the Providence Friars

Reading “Smack” the other day on “dimemag.com” as every hoops aficionado should, I noticed that there was a mention of Jamel Thomas. The common fan may not be aware of who he is, but if you were into college ball in the late 90’s or have knowledge of the NYC grassroots scene, than the name is a given. Jamel was a star forward for Providence College from ‘96-’99 and had the opportunity to receive the pill from fellow NYC product, Shammgod Wells (God Shammgod) at Providence. Thomas has written a book that dishes private information regarding NBA stars, Stephon Marbury (Thomas’ Cousin) and Sebastian Telfair (Thomas’ Half-Brother) titled “The Beautiful Struggle.” (Thought that was a Kweli album?) The book will release on the end of the month. Read More »

The city of Plano, Texas is most notable for producing Dr. Pepper and Doritos, but 17 years ago it was on the map for more than just junk food. An integral part of Michigan’s Fab Five, Jimmy King put Plano on the map when he was named as a McDonald’s All-American in 1991, while putting it down for Plano East High School. The Fab Five is well chronicled and was even featured in a well written article by Bounce contributer, Ali. Despite the success of his high school and collegiate career, King would take a different path to stardom than more notable players, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, and Jalen Rose. (King and Ray Jackson are often noted as the two players of the Fab Five that did not pan out, at least NBA wise) Read More »

Coach Cal has had his share of superstars come through the college ranks. Names like Derrick Rose, Rodney Carney, Shawne Williams, Dajuan Wagner, and Marcus Camby have all balled for Cal. Prior to any of the above mentioned names was a little known All-American player from Atlantic City, NJ. His name is Lou Roe. Read More »

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. Read More »

Kenny Gregory taking former NBA lottery pick Marcus Fizer to the hole in Euroleague action. Around the same time that a dude from UNC was making people forget who Jerry Stackhouse was as he crammed on some heads, another player was showing tremendous hops and the same abilities. Kenny Gregory honed his game at Independence HS in Columbus, OH, earning the state’s Player of the Year Award, plus a ‘97 McDonald’s All-American Game MVP. A certified sky walker, he played for Coach Roy Williams at Kansas U. from ’97-01’.

During Gregory’s tenure at KU, he balled with future NBA players Jacque Vaughn, Raef LaFrentz, Paul Pierce, Billy Thomas, Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich, and Drew Gooden. Upon seeing Kenny’s performance at the McDonald’s Game, I felt as though league stardom was a certainty in his path. With modest career averages of 11.4 ppg, 4.3 boards, and 1.7 dimes, the Greenville Groove drafted Gregory in the NBDL’s inaugural season. Read More »