photo: my.nba.com

The Dunk! The Ram! The Slam! The Bong! Whatever you want to call it, it’s an art form, birthed on the playground, that has revolutionized the way the game is played. And few used the Bang! to make a bigger splash than Anthony Jerome Webb, aka Spud. Read More »

photo: flickr.com

FLY!

Back in the days, the word was a staple in the NYC urban vernacular – a ubiquitous adjective that meant smooth, slick, incredible, pleasing to the eye, dapper and cool all rolled into one inspiring conglomeration. Cats yearned to have the flyest crib, the flyest car, the flyest wardrobe, the flyest ladies.

And on the city’s playground landscape in the ’70s, everybody wanted to have Fly’s game. His government name was James Williams. But like all of the transcendant talents that rose off the asphalt, whose exploits travelled across geographical barriers and continental divides by word of mouth, the skills engendered a legendary alias that would live forever: Earl Manigault aka The Goat, Joe Hammond aka The Destroyer, Herman Knowings aka The Helicopter, Fly – you get the idea. 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

Tenacious! Relentless! Ferocious! Unrelenting work ethic. The Chairman of the Boards.

Those are the words that immediately come to mind when I think of one of the game’s true pioneers, Moses. He was the modern era’s trailblazer that went from ashy to classy, straight from high school to the pros, and blossomed into one of the greatest big men the game has ever seen. The time has now come to step into another chamber, the one reserved for the big boys who called the paint home. Read More »