photo: weallbe.blogspot.com

For years, he contentedly stood in the shadows. Unlike his more celebrated teamates at the time, he didn’t walk through the b-ball corridors with a fancy nickname or a respected pedigree backed up by a blue blooded institution and some fawning media.

Far away from the bright lights, he morphed from a good high school player into an incredible college performer. And when the spotlight and eyes of the world finally cast their admiring gaze upon him in the pros, he’d completed his metamorphisis from role player to one of the finest all-around talents and greatest defensive players the world ever witnessed.

And through the entire journey from the hoops backwoods to the crescendo of the sport, he never stopped being “Boopie” to those who knew him way back when. Read More »

photo: nytimes.com

Wayman Lawrence Tisdale was drawn to basketball by watching his older brother Weldon. Initially, the sport was not welcomed in the Tisdale household as his father, the accomplished Reverand L.L. Tisdale, preferred football. But Wayman’s mother Deborah would not allow her sons to strap on helmets and shoulder pads, regardless of the fanaticism surrounding the game in their home state of Oklahoma.

Wayman, and his older brother William, began playing in their backyard, using a garbage can as their first hoop. Eventually, they outgrew tossing a ball into the trash can, migrating a few blocks away to the asphalt courts at the Immaculate Conception Church schoolyard. Read More »

photo: procorbis.com

In March of ‘81, Isiah Thomas became a college basketball legend. He was the one indispensable member of coach Bob Knight’s Indiana Hoosier squad that captured the Big 10 Championship en route to March Madness.

The team leader in scoring, steals and assists was not only the best pure guard in the country, he was the best the college game had seen since North Carolina’s amazing Phil Ford. Read More »

photo: jamd.com

“Simple and plain, give me the lane, I’ll throw it down your throat like Barkley!” - Chuck D’s lyrics from the Public Enemy classic, Rebel Without A Pause.

To young fans, Charles Barkley is simply a former player. He’s better known as the affable television personality that always has something funny to say on the TNT show, Inside the NBA.

But for those who watched ball in the ’80s and ’90s, he was an awe inspiring, revolutionary talent that turned the establishment on its ear. He was an unstoppable, undersized, 6′4″ power forward who owned the low post, an explosive leaper and ferocious rebounder who could dribble, pass, score and pump gallons of fear through the hearts of even the most accomplished big men. Read More »

photo: si.com

During this holiday season, I’ll be dipping into the archives to offer up some updated goodies in the form of some of the most delectable “The Playground Gave Us…” joints from ‘08.

Isiah Lord Thomas III, aka Zeke, aka The Baby Faced Assassin, was among the game’s greatest little men ever, sharing that exclusive, luxurious penthouse suite with non other than Tiny Archibald. Read More »