Great story about the dying of playground basketball

[RJKarl]

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/11216972/playground-basketball-dying

In essence, it's another victim of AAU and the sneaker companies and the salaries of pro ball. It used to be a way to learn how to be tough and a lot of fun to watch and play.

The HS leagues in Philly were insane. The two main ones were Sonny Hill (Baker) and Narberth. It was really difficult to play in both, but some did.

AAU was an afterthought. If you were good enough to play in one of those leagues, you didn't need AAU.

 

[Milhouse]

I bet you have a story of the time you dunked on earl manigault

 

[buckets]

rj, you ever check out the drew league in LA?

 

[RJKarl]

I never to watch the Drew. I did go to the NBA Summer League at Long Beach State. I played sometimes at Laguna Beach, but not with Magic or the other pros who would show up there.

What has always been weird is the our court had lots of good players, but it was rare we had any over 6'6. Just a couple of miles away at 38th Street in Newport, every team seemed to have 2-3 guys who were 6'8+.

It used to be funny to see Sean Rooks show up with his head above the windshield of his sports car.

 

[Shorty]

Rumor had it that Herman the Helicopter could take a quarter of the top of the backboard.

 

[RJKarl]

Well I left it there for him....

 

[beatrix]

former USC guard JT Terrell was quoted in the article.. name sounds familiar..

 

[marquee moon]

Scored 50 against Dr J in a half.

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/11/s...nd-of-the-playground.html?src=pm&pagewanted=1

 

[VaDeac]

Demise of playground ball directly related to demise if the Collins courts.

 

[Wrangor]

Demise of playground ball directly related to demise if the Collins courts.

+1

 

[myDeaconmyhand]

Demise of playground ball directly related to demise if the Collins courts.

+1

They built even nicer outdoor courts right behind Collins and South dorms, and no shitty double rims.