Product Description

The real basketball deal–the inside story of Harlem’s legendary tournament and the pros and playground legends who have made it world famous.

Earl “The Goat” Manigault. Herman “Helicopter” Knowings. Joe “The Destroyer” Hammond. Richard “Pee Wee” Kirkland. These and dozens of other colorfully nicknamed men are the “Asphalt Gods,” whose astounding exploits in the Rucker Tournament, often against multimillionaire NBA superstars, have made them playground divinity. First established in the 1950s by Holcombe Rucker, a New York City Parks Department employee, the tournament has grown to become a Harlem institution, an annual summer event of major proportions. On that fabled patch of concrete, unknown players have been lighting it up for decades as they express basketball as a freestyle art among their peers and against such pro immortals as Julius Erving and Wilt Chamberlain. X’s and O’s are exchanged for oohs and aahs in one of the great examples of street theater to be found in urban America.

Asphalt Gods is a streetwise, supremely entertaining oral history of a tournament that has influenced everything from NBA playing style to hip-hop culture. Now, legends transmitted by word of mouth find a home and the achievements of basketball’s greatest unknowns a permanent place in the game’s record.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #157536 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-17
• Released on: 2003-06-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Highlighting a little-known piece of New York history, Mallozzi, a sports editor at the New York Times, documents the Harlem basketball institution called the Rucker Tournament. Begun in the 1950s by young, Harlem-born Holcombe Rucker, the tournaments included some of basketball's great games throughout the decades. Here, such pros as Julius Erving, Wilt Chamberlain and, more recently, Kobe Bryant pounded the asphalt with local unknowns. Mallozzi, who grew up and played basketball nearby in the 1970s and 80s, has covered the tournament since 1986: "nowhere else could I find the kind of basketball that was being played at Rucker Park, where legends, nicknames, and great rivalries are born every summer." While he celebrates the tournament's past glory (Rucker died of cancer in 1965 at the age of 38), he doesn't shy away from its sometimes controversial moments (many people think it's become simply a hip-hop show and shoe ad, where the game is hardly taken seriously). Mallozzi lends an even hand to this fast-paced tale.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
All basketball fans can identify Magic, Larry, and Michael, but only the hardcore know The Goat, Helicopter, and The Destroyer. The latter all made their reputations as street players in New York City's legendary Rucker Tournament. Mallozzi, New York Times sports editor and unofficial Ruckers historian, profiles a handful of the tourney's stars from the '70s. Earl "The Goat" Manigault, Herman "Helicopter" Knowings, and Joe "The Destroyer" Hammond were Rucker legends in their day, but each returned to the streets: Manigault and Knowings succumbed to drugs, while Hammond chose drug dealing over the NBA. Rather than decrying the personal tragedies, however, Mallozzi celebrates the games these street legends played: the scoring battles, the in-your-face slams, the Houdini-like ball handling. Readers will especially enjoy the accounts of NBA stars who joined the fray at Rucker's only to have their games handed back to them in a trash bag. With the freestyle Rucker game now the basketball standard, this makes a fitting tribute to the players who pioneered an athletic art form. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Inside Flap
The real basketball deal?the inside story of Harlem?s legendary tournament and the pros and playground legends who have made it world famous.

Earl ?The Goat? Manigault. Herman ?Helicopter? Knowings. Joe ?The Destroyer? Hammond. Richard ?Pee Wee? Kirkland. These and dozens of other colorfully nicknamed men are the ?Asphalt Gods,? whose astounding exploits in the Rucker Tournament, often against multimillionaire NBA superstars, have made them playground divinity. First established in the 1950s by Holcombe Rucker, a New York City Parks Department employee, the tournament has grown to become a Harlem institution, an annual summer event of major proportions. On that fabled patch of concrete, unknown players have been lighting it up for decades as they express basketball as a freestyle art among their peers and against such pro immortals as Julius Erving and Wilt Chamberlain. X?s and O?s are exchanged for oohs and aahs in one of the great examples of street theater to be found in urban America.

Asphalt Gods is a streetwise, supremely entertaining oral history of a tournament that has influenced everything from NBA playing style to hip-hop culture. Now, legends transmitted by word of mouth find a home and the achievements of basketball?s greatest unknowns a permanent place in the game?s record.

Customer Reviews

THE BEST
I've read Heaven is a Playground, City Game, and seen On Hallowed Ground, for anyone that is a "real" basketball fan this is by far the "BEST" story of the best streetball.

BALLERS
Asphalt Gods is the best book on the planet.If you love basketball you should read this book.It is a true story which took place at Rucker Park.Rucker Park is named after the brother named Holcombe Rucker.Who was born in Harlem on March 2,1926.He was raised by his grandmother.It is interesting because Mr.Rucker brought some of the best players ever to play there.

Hey, I know that guy.....
Great subject, great storytelling. By the way, I played with Rucker legend Billy Rieser (aka White Jesus) and he was hands down the most incredible basketball talent and the most compelling personality I have ever been around. His story is worthy of a volume in itself.