photo: sheepy712.files.wordpress.com

The scam went down like this. A skinny kid named Reggie would be tossing up jumpers at the John Adams Elementary School and other playgrounds in Riverside, California. His older sister, Cheryl, would be at the other end of the court, tossing up bricks. Sometimes, she would wind up and heave the ball over the backboard and into the chain link fence.

Reggie would approach a couple of kids and the convo normally went down like this -

“You guys want to play two-on-two? I’m waiting for my man to show up. Or I can just play you with my sister down there.” Read More »

all photos: zimbio.com

Other than being known as the Blake Griffin Sweepstakes, this year’s selection of up and comer’s will be synonomous down the road as the 2009 Point Guard Draft. As a matter of fact, there were five floor generals taken among the first ten picks overall.

And despite the pundits that opined about the precipitous drop off in talent after the Clippers selected the Super-Duper Griffin, I was particularly delighted with the array of options at the #1 position. Read More »

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: jamd.com

March Madness is unequivocally my favorite time of year. For the next few weeks, we’ll examine some of the greatest performers who used the NCAA Tournament as their own personal playground.

Carmelo Kiyan Anthony, though most often associated with his hometown of West Baltimore, Maryland, was introduced to the game on the asphalt of New York City. His father, Carmelo Iriate, was a playground baller who, before moving to the Big Apple, grew up on the west coast of Puerto Rico. Melo was born in 1984 and, for the first eight years of his life, lived in Brooklyn’s Red Hook Projects. Read More »

all photos: jamd.com

From the early ’90s through the middle of the new millenium, his bark and bite were equally loud and vicious. For those whose memories reside in recent history, they might only remember Glenn Allen Robinson as a role player from San Antonio’s 2005 NBA championship team.

But for those of us who saw him as a youngster on the come up, he’ll always be fondly remembered as the “Big Dog”, one of the greatest and most dominant players the college game has ever seen. A tenacious rebounder and deadly shooter, he singlehandedly altered the hoops and financial landscape as one of the most complete and unstoppable forces in the illustrious history of the NCAA. Read More »