Legends 11

The City of New York is famous for many things – central park, the statute of liberty,
Broadway, Carrie Bradshaw, ect… But when I think about New York City, only one
thing comes to mind… basketball (or basketball players to be exact). Think about it.
Some of the games greatest players ever to play the game have hailed from the Big
Apple. Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Tiny Archibald, Bob Cousy and Connie Hawkins just to
name a few, all got their start in the City That Never Sleeps. And those are just the
players who actually made it to the League. Tales about the many New York City
playground legends who dominated at the Rucker but for one reason or another never
made to the League (i.e. Earl “the Goat” Manigault or Herman “Helicopter” Knowings)
are legendary amongst true basketball aficionados. I can’t explain it—but there’s
something about the asphalt on NYC blacktops that just infuses greatness in New York
City basketball players. As my man Nas would say, perhaps it’s just that NEW YORK
STATE OF MIND that makes NYC players so dope.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to dedicate this article to the 10 nicest players from New
York City currently in the League. Admittedly, the New York talent currently in the
League isn’t as good as it has been in the past. But any GM could form a team with
the 10 players on this list and have a bona fide championship contender. Thus,
without further delay, Straight Out The Dungeons Of Queensbridge, Coney Island And
Harlem Where Fake ‘Ballers Don’t Make It Out, below are the 10 nicest NYC born
players currently in the League.

Top 10

10. Smush Parker – Smush Parker of the Los Angeles Lakers burst onto the
scene in a dramatic way this season, scoring 20 points and dishing out 6 dimes in the
Lakers overtime win over Denver in the season opener. Many of you are probably
wondering “who the hell is Smush Parker?” I was thinking the same thing until I saw the
kid posterize Andre Miller of the Denver Nuggets and catch a sick alley oop over Kevin
Garnett of the Timberwolves. As both Andre and K.G. can attest, Don’t Sleep on this
cat ‘cuz as we all know Sleep Is The Cousin Of Death. Smush is the Lakers’ third
leading scoring at nearly 13 points per game and also ranks sixth in the league in
steals. Although Smush’s numbers aren’t gaudy, you have to give him props for
putting up any kind of numbers considering he shares a backcourt with the black hole
of basketball in KB8.

9. Sebastian “Bassy” Telfair – Growing up in Coney Island’s Surfside Projects,
the home of some of NYC’s finest ‘ballers, young Bassy Telfair made a name for
himself at an early age becoming the youngest player ever invited to participate in the
Adidas ABCD camp as an eighth grader and later making history as the first point
guard ever to make the jump straight from high school to the League. As a second
year player for the dysfunctional Portland Trail Blazers, Bassy has shown amazing
flashes of brilliance that make you stop and really listen to the NYC fanatics who claim
that Bassy is the best point guard to ever come out of NYC (yeah I know…they really
do say he’s better than his second cousin Stephon). As a starter for the Trail Blazers
this season, Bassy averages a little over 10 points and nearly five assists a game. But
it’s not Bassy’s numbers that put him on this list…it’s his undeniable potential. Just ask
anyone who witnessed Bassy’s beat down of Starbury (twice) during their infamous
summertime runs at the Surfside Garden, leaving the entire crowd thinking that that the
Game [Really] Aint’ The Same No More…[With] Younger Ballers Like Bassy Breakin’
Ankles And Bringing Fame To Their Name.

8. Speedy Claxton - There really is only one word that describes Speedy Claxton
and that word really is Speedy. Drafted by the Philadelphia Sixers in 2000 in an
attempt by Larry Brown to light a fire under A.I. (hey it worked as the Sixers made the
finals the next season), Claxton had a rough time in Philly and never lived up to Philly’s
expectations for him as the heir apparent to A.I. However, he bounced back as a
member of the 2002 championship San Antonio Spurs and finally appears to have
found his niche with the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. Speedy is a lightening
quick point guard. When he is on the floor with New Orleans super rookie Chris Paul,
he Runs Like A Cheetah With Thoughts of An Assassin, distributing the ball with
lightening quick speed and pinpoint accuracy. As to be expected, the Hornets are
struggling this year but Speedy is putting up decent numbers, averaging 13 points and
4 assists a game as a sub off the bench.

7. Etan Thomas – I know I’m probably going to catch some flack for this one from
the Wizards fans here in D.C., but hey Etan is a pretty good player, especially when
you consider the dearth of talented big men in the League. Etan makes this list
because he does all the dirty work and can be counted on to bring pure effort night in
and night out, crashing the boards to scoop up one of Gilbert Arenas’ many missed
shots. For the faithful Wizards fans out there, Y’all Know His Stillo, With Or Without
Playing Time, Etan is a beast on the boards and can even score a little bit on offensive
rebound put backs and from time to time he’s been known to D up an opposing big
man or two which is more than can be said for fellow NYC big man Brendan Haywood of
the Wizards. Etan may be a stretch here, but I like his…uh….tenacity. That’s my story
and I’m stickin’ to it.

6. Jamal Tinsley – Jamal Tinsley is the quintessential Brooklyn point guard. Small
and quick, passes the ball well and with great creativity but can also make the short 15
foot jumper when necessary. There’s nothing fancy about Jamal’s game, but With The
Ball [in his hands] He is Extreme. Against Detroit in the playoffs last season, when
everyone had all but written off the Pacers for dead, in the second game of the series,
Jamal put the team on his back and willed them to victory with the type of swagger only
possessed by a NYC point guard, dishing out a memorable 12 dimes along the way.
Although Indiana ultimately lost the series, Jamal embodied the heart and soul of a
NYC point guard with his refusal to back down from Chauncey Billups. Jamal’s career
numbers of 9 points and 7 assists per game over five seasons aren’t mind boggling but
they are solid and steady, something that all NBA GM look for in a point guard.

5. Rafer “Skip to My Lou” Alston - O.K. Here is where the fun begins. The
next five players on this list are legitimately sick and all possess that type of skillz that
one could only acquire on the blacktops of NYC playgrounds. At number 5, I’ve got to
give a shout out to one of the best street ballers of all time in Rafer Skip to My Lou
Alston. Before Hot Sauce, Spida and the Professor could ever dream of cashing and
AND 1 paycheck for a living, Skip to My Lou was breaking ankles at a very young age
at the Mecca of all basketball (with all due respect to the Madison Square Garden)—
Rucker Park. Skip to My Lou is to streetballers what Michael Jackson was to Black
crossover pop artists: he made it possible for true streetballers to make a living playing
their kind of basketball be it in the NBA or on the AND 1 Mixed tape tour. Streetball has
been around forever, but it was Skip who took it to the next level, making sneaker and
soda endorsements for streetballers an everyday occurrence and blazing the path for
streetballers to achieve popularity that rivals that of many NBA players. As far as
basketball goes, Skip is a magician with the Rock. He crosses players over with ease
and passes the ball through crevices that never seem quite large enough until the ball
lands in the appointed spot at the appointed time—like Magic. Skip’s Got So Many
Dribbles I Don’t Think He’s Too Sane! While his NBA game has not quite caught up
with his street fame, Skip has had some memorable moments in the League, even
hitting a game winning shot against the Dallas Mavericks when he was with Miami. If
Skip and T-Mac can manage to work it out in Houston, the world may one day come to
know him as Rafer the NBA player instead of Skip the streetballer.

4. Lamar Odom – Lamar, or L.O., has the kind of talent that makes GM’s and NBA
Fantasy players salivate. He has the potential to fill up every significant column in the
stat sheet with double figures every night. When he was drafted by the Clippers, the
Clipper faithful (ever hopeful) had visions of Magic Johnson. As with most of the
Clipper’s draft picks, L.O.’s days with the Clippers didn’t last long (thank goodness for
Lamar) and his time there was pretty unremarkable. However, we saw glimpses of what
I hope is the real L.O. when he teamed up with D-Wade in Miami to help Miami make it
to an unexpected second round playoff berth. Forget about L.O.’s unproductive days
with the Clippers and his current incapacitated state with the Lakers, the real L.O.
revealed himself in Miami where he was seen frequently driving the ball coast to coast
for twisting lay-ups or dishing sweet assists to his teammates for open shots or dunks.
When he was with Miami, he even managed to posterize his future teammate KB8 with
a breathtaking dunk (FYI- when was the last time you saw Kobe get dunked on?—
Doesn’t happen often. That oughta tell you something). Unfortunately for the health of
L.O.’s game, he is now playing with KB8 in La-La land Where The Nights Are Jet Black
And The [Other Ballers] Fight To Get Touches. If L.O. and KB8 ever figure out how to
merge their games, the rest of the league better watch out because L.O.’s game is for
real.

3. Stephon “Starbury” Marbury – Ahh. Stephon “Starbury” Marbury. The
poster child for what some would say embodies everything that is wrong with the NBA
today and what others would say is the prototype of a NYC basketball player. On
Coney Island, Stephon is considered basketball royalty. Hailing from a family of
brothers who balled in college but never made it to the League, Stephon is the Prodigal
Son and therefore It’s Only Right That He Was Born To [Ball]. Let’s just imagine for a
moment what Stephon’s career could have been like if he has stayed with K.G. in
Minnesota. If he were still in Minnesota, he’d probably be number one on this list, with
the number two player a far distance behind. However, the reality of Starbury’s career
is that he has always been a great individual talent on a horrible team. Who can ever
for get his days in New Jersey when he used to write on his sneakers, “ME # 3 All
Alone.” That pretty much sums up Marbury’s career and the way he is viewed around
the league. Ask any casual fan, NBA analyst… or hell even ask Larry Brown…and they
will probably tell you that Stephon just does not make his teammates better—a quality
that is an absolute necessity for any point guard. Stephon claims he is the best point
guard in the League. I don’t know about that. I will say however, that he is one of the
two best individual talents in the league. Aside from KB8, there is not a better
individual talent in the league. Not one. Not A.I., not Lebron, not T-Mac—Not
Anyone.

2. Elton Brand – O.K. I might be cheating a little bit here since E.B. is really from
Peekskill, NY and not New York City, NY. But hey, he plays for the Clippers and always
manages to get snubbed at All-Star selection time so I wanted to give him some much
deserved love. Elton Brand is the best kept secret in the NBA. Although the Baby Bulls
have finally grown up, they must still be kicking themselves for giving up Elton Brand for
what ultimately amounted to Eddie Curry (now a New York Knick) and Tyson Chandler
(a good but not spectacular NBA Player). As I mentioned earlier, Elton doesn’t get
much love or pub because he plays for Clip Joint, a franchise that until recently has
been one the absolute worst sports franchises in the history of all sports franchises.
Despite the fact that Elton is playing where Life Is Parallel Is To Hell [He Still Manages]
To Maintain And Be Prosperous. Elton is so prosperous in fact that he is averaging a
double-double (19 points and 10 rebounds) over the course of his career. If he played
for any other franchise, he’d be a perennial selection to the All Star Team. Plenty of
teams would love to have EB on their squad (including the other team that plays in the
Staples Center).

1. Ron Artest – And the number one baller from NYC is….Ron Artest of course.
How could it possible be anyone else? Straight out the dungeons of Brooklyn’s
Queensbridge Projects, Ron-Ron’s game is unlike anyone else’s currently in the
League. After the infamous brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills, many people painted
Ron-Ron as a thug, maladjusted or just plain crazy. In my opinion he’s neither of those
things. What the critics fail to understand is that Ron is the way he is and plays the
way he plays, because as Nas so eloquently put it, Nothins’ Equivalent To The New
York State Of Mind and Ron definitely has that New York State of Mind. By New York
State of Mind I mean that Ron is the only player capable of playing both offense and
defense at a very high level every single night. Some players might be capable of
putting up great offensive numbers and playing good defense but there are no other
players who can play great defense and still put up good offense numbers. A winner of
the NBA defensive player of the year award, Ron locks down the opposing team’s best
player almost every night and still manages to score in the high double figures. The
type of venom and desperation that Ron plays with can only be wrought from ballin’ on
the streets of NYC where you have to fight for every rebound; every bucket and
respect is truly earned and not given. Truth be told, if I had to pick one NBA player
who plays the two or three position out of all the talented players in the League who
play those positions, I would pick Ron. Yes. I would take him over Lebron, Kobe, T-
Mac, D-Wade, you name it. Leave no doubt, “Nasty Ron” is by far the best NYC baller
currently in the NBA.

Email Erika Woods