Ramon Rodriguez and I met circa 1994. We lived on the same block in the Lower East Side, and I noticed his ill white/orange Nike Air Ballistics. “Where’d you get those?” I asked, and that opened an entire friendship that would encompass a mutual love for music, dancing, family, and of course b-ball. We started putting up jumpers at the 14th St. Y every morning at 8am, and eventually ran together in tournaments like Fireball, Tillary Park, Nickelodeon, Ham-Fish, on and on.

In 2002, he, Jack Ryan, and I formed Project Playground, a traveling basketball performance group that wound up doing halftime shows for the Mavs, Knicks, Hornets, U Conn, U of Tennessee, U of Florida, u name it! Those are all great memories, and I consider “Mone” my little brother, so you know I was stupid proud this summer to see him rock the big screen in Taking Of Pelham 1, 2, 3 alongside Denzel, and the blockbuster Transformers.

Recently, Ramon went on the Jimmy Kimmel Show for an interview. Towards the end he shows Kimmel some b-ball tricks–HIGHLARIOUS!

If you wondering if the brother can really play Read More »

This past weekend, I was invited to be the guest performer/coach at the 15th annual Basketball En El Barrio (El Paso, Texas). The camp hosted six to ten year olds, mostly Mexican immigrants, in what is known as the second poorest neighborhood in our country. The EL PASO TIMES wrote an article about me showing up that truly had me bugging as it showed me so much love; check it here.

After my performance, I challenged Hector, a counselor, to a game of 1-on-1 in front of the campers. He was recruited by Cochise Junior College (AZ) out of high school and now plays pro in Mexico. I was told he was the toughest guard in the gym . . .

I caught him bad at the 1:35 mark! At the 3:15 mark, do you think I made a good call by calling offensive foul?!!! The whole experience was mad fun, check out my solo show and listen to the kids’ reactions: Read More »