For as long as I can remember, basketball has been the most consistent thing in my life. Whether it was playing in a league, pickup, or by myself, basketball has always been there. Since my childhood, I have been obsessed with the creativity and fluidity that the game radiates. Every trip down the court brings another opportunity to do something that no one has ever seen before. That is what the greats are able to do; not just dominate the game, but do it with flash. So many players are defined by one aspect of their game, whether it be a beautiful jumpshot, an unstoppable handle, or the ability to soar over the opposition and slam it down with force. For me, great moves are artwork, making some players artists. My favorite players are not the typical choices. I idolize those who choose style over fundamentals. I love players who trash-talk, players who play to the crowd. Showman. They make basketball fun for me. I have never understood why people do not accept streetball as "real basketball." I ask anyone who thinks that streetball players lack actual talent to travel out to West 4th Street in New York City. A small, caged basketball turns into a war-zone on a daily basis. I would rather watch a day of pickup basketball at Rucker Park than most NCAA games. There is a certain aura that surrounds an outdoor court, surrounded by people (and I mean surrounded in the sense that the crowd has become the boundary line), waiting for a chance to get on the court.
And 1 Mixtapes shaped my love for flash and introduced me to the fact that people played the game this way. The fact that this group of players would travel from city to city and take on anyone who stepped up to challenge them was amazing to me. Not only that, but they would also take the best players from each city and add them to the roster. This is exactly how a player named Rafer Alston a.k.a. Skip to My Lou rose to stardom. Alston eventually earned a scholarship to play for Fresno State, and even headlined SLAM magazine's 1997-98 NCAA Basketball Preview issue (right). They dubbed him "The Best Point Guard in the World...You've Never Heard Of," and Alston went on to have a relatively successful NBA career. However, many say that Alston failed to connect the streetball world with the NBA world. While it is true that he did not embarrass the best defenders in the world like he embarrassed competition on the And 1 Mixtape Tour, he is still the only player to rise from And 1 all the way to the NBA.
I consider Julius Erving to be the greatest combination of style and skill to ever grace a basketball court. It starts with the iconic afro that would hang behind as he flew down the court and over the top of defenders. His two most memorable plays are a windmill dunk over Michael Cooper and a swooping, double-clutch, impossible lay-up on the baseline against Magic Johnson's Lakers. What impresses me most about Dr. J is that he was arguably the most powerful player of the time, as well as being the most graceful. In my opinion, Julius Erving was the original showman on the court. Sure, the Globetrotters were doing it for years before him, but Julius did it at such a high level that people would travel from across the country to see him play.
The culture surrounding basketball may be more interesting to me than the game itself. It is impossible not to see the influence that hip-hop has had on basketball. The two worlds seem to be intertwined in the ways they have grown. I believe that both helped each other to grow in popularity, seeing as both became very popular around the same time. This will be the topic of part two of this three-part series: Hip-Hop and Basketball.
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