Sundiata Gaines (right) with Co-MVP Antawn Dobie after winning the 2009 Fireball championship.

This is a story I wrote in July 2008 that I thought should be posted again.

The story’s been captured before. The New York City guard is as a quick as they come, able to take anyone off the bounce, but just doesn’t have a reliable-enough jumper, or gets too animated at times, or doesn’t always bring the intensity he needs to make it to the next level. Erick Barkley, Omar Cook, Kenny Satterfield, the list goes on-and-on. For every success story, there are countless failed attempts, which is of course, a relative term in this city.

Sundiata Gaines isn’t your prototypical NYC guard. Read More »

Sundiata Gaines, who has terrorized New York summer leagues since graduating from Georgia in 2008, has signed a 10-day contract with the Utah Jazz, according to the team’s Web site.

Gaines had been averaging almost 25 points, five rebounds and seven assists with the Idaho Stampede of the D-league.

When I asked him about his NBA prospects for a story I wrote in the summer of 2008, he said, “I’m gonna keep working on my game. If I keep working hard, I think I can make it. G.M.’s have told me I’m talented enough.”

Best of luck to Yatta.

2009 Fireball Champion, Money Train.

Sundiata Gaines went up for a lay-up on the left side, took a hard foul from a N.Y.A.C. defender and watched the ball trickle through the net as he lay on the ground. The play drew screams from the Money Train fans in attendance for the Fireball championship at Baruch College on Sunday, and showed that no matter how many hits they took, the boys in green would keep coming.

After trailing by as many as 16 in the first half, Money Train rallied to defeat N.Y.A.C., 87-78, behind Antawn “Anti Freeze” Dobie’s 23 points and his Co-MVP Gaines’s 19. Dobie also added 10 assists and six rebounds. Read More »