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:

Julius Erving: NY Nets (ABA) Read More »