You probably have never heard of Yoshihiro Kagitomi. In New York’s summer league culture, even as it grows ever multicultural with each passing year, he is still just a blip. But, if you look deep enough, you do know him. If you love New York City, if you love basketball in all its shapes and sizes, you know him. He’s one of those people with a passion for the game that just never dies.

What basketball has done to help this 36-year-old Tokyo transplant and his family find a true home and culture to identify with in this otherwise foreign place, is what should make him meaningful to anyone with a deep appreciation of the game. Across barriers of language and culture, basketball has made Yoshi one of New York’s own. Read More »

It was a busy week for us. Fury vs. Watch Out exhibition game last Thursday was a good one.  We got the chance to play against Roman “El Regalo” Perez and Spanish pro Nacho Martin along with Dominican pro Victor Toribio and good friend of the Fury, 40 Cal.  To keep with the international flavor, we even tried to use the official FIBA pro league ball but it still isn’t broken in yet, and got the blame for an excessive amount of turnovers. Read More »

The one-man Fury traveling team, Darren “DJ” Jiang of Battlegrounds fame and now part of the Nike team, came back to NY on Tuesday to help oversee the opening of Nike’s new space in Harlem. When not acting as Lebron and Kobe’s personal translator in China, DJ drops in from time to time and gets a game in with us. And, he ALWAYS has on the latest from Nike

Unfortunately, I’m no sneakerhead by any stretch and shame on me, I’m an embarrassment to Bob especially. I didn’t even get good shots of the kicks. In the game, DJ wore a pair of new, Carolina Blue pre-release Nike Hyperfuse, the latest incarnation of the Hypderdunk line, set to launch at the World Basketball Festival in August. Read More »

Photos by Jocelyn Lam

I debated doing this journal again this summer. Last year, if felt kind of like the Borat section of Bounce. The Fury’s experience as an All-Asian American team in NYC’s Men’s Unlimited leagues hopefully did as much to expose Asian Americans to the beauty and rigors of NYC’s summer streetball as it did to expose streetball to Asian American athletes. Our “Cultural Leanings of Streetball,” if you will, were more like a goodwill tour. But now, our team is hardly a punchline. Read More »

If it starts to get wet out and you’re in the neighborhood, duck into “The King,” MLK HS (122 Amsterdam Ave.) today and check out some of the best and brightest Asian-American basketball talent New York and DC has to offer. Read More »