Picture U2 playing the Echoplex next time they come to L.A. They heard the dance in Bryant's footwork. They saw the true reach of Durant's arms. It brought a lot of pride to the community."įans whose only glimpse of their basketball heroes had been through a television set or from nosebleed seats at Staples Center, now sat up close. "For them to see three of arguably the top five players in the world to come into the inner city and play their game, not with a big entourage and all this, but to actually interact with these kids and these citizens here in South L.A., it was huge. And then when Kobe came, it just took it over the top," said Smiley. When LeBron came, it took the league to a whole other level. The Heat's James and the Lakers' Kobe Bryant soon followed suit. Washington Park gym in South Los Angeles in June. He scored 66 points at Rucker, 59 points when Goodman played Team Melo, 48 points in Paul's game and 44 points when Goodman played Drew.īefore any of those performances, however, he played in a pair of regular-season Drew League games at the tiny 800-seat Colonel Leon H. Nike has gotten in on the act, providing their sponsored athletes warm-up shirts that read "Basketball Never Stops" to wear during the exhibition games.ĭurant, the NBA's reigning back-to-back scoring champion, has been the star of the summer. "Team Melo" game at the storied Palestra in Philadelphia. The original Drew-Goodman game sparked a slew of charity games over the summer, from Chris Paul hosting a game in his home state of North Carolina to Hakim Warrick getting together with former college teammate Carmelo Anthony to organize a "Team Philly" vs. "It's real basketball," said Drew League commissioner Dino Smiley. in August and came away with a 135-134 loss to Goodman. The Drew League is calling the game, "The Big Payback," after Drew sent its players to Trinity College in D.C. Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant and Washington's John Wall are slated to play in both games, and will compete against a Drew League squad featuring Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings, Toronto's DeMar DeRozan, Oklahoma City's James Harden, Washington's Nick Young and Golden State's Dorrell Wright among others. Miami's trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will host a charity game on Saturday at Florida International University, and on Sunday at the Pyramid in Long Beach L.A.'s Drew League will host Washington D.C.'s Goodman League in a rematch pitting stars from the West Coast against stars from the East Coast. While representatives from both sides will surely meet over the weekend to try to reach an 11th-hour deal to save the season, some of the NBA's brightest talents will entertain fans with two more star-studded pickup games. Not since the days of Julius Erving and Connie Hawkins visiting New York's famed Rucker Park and Wilt Chamberlain and Guy Rodgers appearing in the pro-am Baker League at 25th and Diamond Avenue in Philadelphia have so many stars stocked the summer league circuit.Įarlier this week, NBA commissioner David Stern threatened that the first two weeks of the regular season would be canceled if the two sides could not reach an agreement on a new labor contract by Monday. With NBA owners and the players' union still at odds over economic issues, the league's players have jumped at the opportunity to share the game with diehard fans all over the country. How about a bunch of all-pro pickup games sprouting up like flowers through cracks in the pavement. LOS ANGELES - You want the bright side of the NBA lockout? You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |