Asphalt Gods

June 1, 2003
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.

June 15, 2003
Playground or "streetball" players were once regarded as undisciplined, arrogant, and fundamentally inferior to their NBA siblings. Today, the pros emulate moves that originated in the street game and playground players have their own show on ESPN. Mallozzi, a New York Times sports editor, tells the story of the Rucker Tournament, a summer basketball tourney started by New York City Department of Parks employee Holcombe Rucker. Since the 1950s, the Rucker Tournament has been a place where pro, college, high school, and any player with a good game could do exhilarating playground battle. Mallozzi presents some of the Rucker's best-known alumni-Wilt Chamberlain, Julius "Dr. J" Erving, Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, Bill Bradley, and Stephon Marbury-while presenting humanizing portraits of great streetballers who never went further. Particularly sad are Earl "The Goat" Manigault and Joe "The Destroyer" Hammond, who both wound up wrecked on the shoals of booze and drugs and whose legends make their court skills as incalculable as they are beautiful. In spite of its bright spots, though, this book just doesn't come together. Mallozzi fails to provide a cogent structure, nor does he give the storytellers room, breaking up their tales into small anecdotes with little scope or connection. Recommended for libraries with a strong interest in basketball.-James Miller, Springfield Coll. Libs., MA

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2003
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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)