Back in the summer of 2004, current SKY Syndicate Tour member Joseph Vecsey and I found ourselves on the same squad during the AND1 MIXTAPE TOUR open run outside Madison Square Garden. I felt good about how I performed and got love from the crowd, including from a couple of younger cats telling me, “Why do you have to try out to get in the building?” I didn’t get selected, and that was perfectly fine cuz it was a mad fun experience regardless.
The one down moment was captured in the photo above! Courtney Castro, currently with the Harlem Wizards, caught a steal, and I just happened to be the only one back on the break. Thankfully, I wasn’t foolish enough to jump with him, but I did kind of feel helpless in trying to defend when I saw him take off just inside the dotted.
It happens!
Just the other day, I was retelling to Ahmad Hooper of the WEST sneaker shop and our own Ballgurl of the only time I truly got woofed on. It was circa ‘84 at the Highbridge 3 on 3 in the Bronx near Woodycrest Avenue. Hooper didn’t warn me about John Morton’s hops. Dude came down the baseline Read More »
On October 3rd, I was in Oakland to spin the opening night of a spot called The New Parish. With some free time on my hand in the morning, though, I heard rumor that there was decent run at a sports club around the corner from my hotel, so I ventured . . .
“You play ball?” the front desk attendant asked me. “Your game better be tight cuz they don’t play around upstairs!” The other attendant recognized my grillpiece from Waxpoetic Magazine and asked, “You’re that DJ, right?” She then told me my debit card didn’t work (as in she was letting me in gratis).
The court was empty at 8:30am save a couple of old heads. I started shooting around and this dude who looked exactly like Avery Johnson to a T asked, “You’ve played somewhere, huh?” Cool dude, turned out his brother Keith Jennings ran in the Golden State Warriors backcourt with Tim Hardaway some years back.
Speaking of Tim, I joined a game of 21 on the opposite court and wound up going hard against Read More »
Last season, Kobe Bryant dropped 62 on the Knicks in the Garden, and it was all the rave of the league, but who remembers “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s 68 on them back on February 25, 1977 out in New Orleans for the Jazz? We didn’t have ESPN highlights back then, but I remember reading about it in the paper the next day and just buggin’. Check out the clip I just found below. Towards the end Pete goes straight playground with a woopty-woop lay-up and then a signature no-look. Pure joy:
Although it may seem like a culture shock to the youth, player-endorsed shoes have been around for almost 90 years. On a daily basis you’re bound to see Chuck Taylor’s, but what about KEDS or Randy’s? Coulter’s Basketball has a wonderful article about the history of player-endorsed shoes that is worth to take a look at.
Streetball legend Jack “Black Jack” Ryan was recently interviewed on www.streetball.com. Jack Ryan appeared in the 14th issue of BOUNCE and has numerous posts about him on BOUNCE Magazine Online.
Last week, a lot of heads in NYC where rooting for EBC @ Rucker Park legend Rafer “Skip To My Lou” Alston to help the Orlando Magic to their first NBA title. Didn’t happen, but it sparked a conversation between www.bouncemag.com frequent visitor Funkalot, who inquired to me about who exactly could claim an NBA ring as well as a Rucker Park chip.
I knew that Skip won an EBC America title against Seattle in 2006, but I couldn’t remember if he ever actually went all the way at EBC’s regular tournament. And the only modern-day NBA player I could think of who had league rings who had also played at EBC this decade was Kobe Bryant, however he only showed up for one regular season game so he wouldn’t qualify for having claim to both either.
I had to take it back, so I called Rucker Park Hall of Fame coach Butch Purcell, who directed the mighty Westsiders in the Rucker Pro League in the ’70s. From what he could remember, there were only a few players who could claim both a Rucker championship and an NBA (or ABA) title ring:
Rucker Pro League Champion Westsiders team members with NBA (or ABA) rings:
A couple of days ago b-ball historian Tim Gallagher sent me a nice article about the Dayton (Ohio) arena’s deep NCAA Tournament history. I told him when I hear of that town, I automatically think of Roosevelt Chapman, who repped U. of Dayton like none other. The Brooklyn native was the school’s all-time leading scorer, and during the ‘84 March Madness, he outscored every player, including Pat Ewing, Chris Mullin, and other future NBA All-Stars, finishing with 105 points in four games, losing to Georgetown in the Regional Final. Oh, he dropped 41 points on All-American Wayman Tisdale’s Oklahoma squad in the Second Round. I might mention that he was 6′4″, and there was no 3-point line then, so many of his buckets came against packed-in zones to defend him. Think about the hang time necessary, no batteries included.
When I mentioned Roosevelt, Tim hit me right back: “‘Velvet’ was a magical player. Nice you included a pic of him in your book (Where’d You Get Those?). I saw a friend last weekend who was an Asst. at UD during those years and he said Velvet can still flash that million $ smile but sadly has been battling the evils of the street, same dark alleys as Dwight Anderson. They recently honored the UD team that lost to G’Town in the ‘84 Regional Final, and Velvet was conspicuous by his absence.”
The last I saw Roosevelt Chapman was circa 1990. I was shooting by myself at the “Sand Park” as we called it around the way on 100th St. and Amsterdam Ave. Read More »
Brooklyn native Jack “Black Jack” Ryan recently was invited to entertain aspiring young ballplayers in the Middle Eastern country of Qatar. Far away from home, the West 4th St. legend quickly won over the kids, and totally enjoyed the experience. “They gave me a nice Qatar uni to perform in,” he told us. Apparently, he’ll get to wear it again with the success of his trip: “The GM of the country’s federation said he wants to bring what the NBA does for its players and fans. Maybe I’ll be back . . .”
Shortly after returning home, Jack Ryan played against the Main Event Dream Team in a positive community entertainment game held for the Linden (NJ) PAL. Against former AND 1 Mixtape Tour players like Spyda, Shane, and Pharmacist, the 45+ year old scored 25 points! Announcer Joe Pope (also of Watson Classic and Tri-State) told the old man, “You should be playing with us, man!”
