New york Street Basketball Legend: "Goat" earl manigault 1944- 1998 Perhaps not many people in China know about him, because there is no way to get in touch with these street basketball masters who are deeply involved in American cities. He is the legendary god of street basketball, who once enjoyed the street view in new york. His real name is earl manigault. If you really want to know about street basketball, then maybe you can learn a lot about "goats". There is a book called Sweeping Peas and Other Playground Legends. "Pea" is Daniels' nickname. Based on Daniels, this book introduces the legendary street basketball in New York. Opening the preface of this book, I was shocked and had to get to the bottom of it. The preface reads: "One day, two old fans were chatting in the basketball and tennis hall in New Jersey. When the visiting team walked out of the retired star point guard robertjoseph cousy in the Celtic lounge, one of the old fans opened his voice and said,' Isn't this the second greatest basketball player in the history of Andrew Jackson High School in new york? Cousy, who has been elected to the Hall of Fame, turned to ask:' The second greatest? Then who is the greatest? Old Ball Skin said disdainfully,' You must have heard of lloyd daniels's name! Former NBA star Cousy is not as good as Daniels? The preface alone stunned me. Who is Daniels? What's so weird about street basketball in new york that even NBA stars eat other things? This book fascinates me with street basketball in new york, and I am determined to go to new york to experience the street basketball story described in the book one day if I have the chance. Jayson Willaims, a former Nets center from new york, once said, "The most vaunted players in the world are the so-called' street basketball legends' because they have only played in their neighbors' homes, and there are no statistics on offensive and defensive matches. Who knows their real skills and performance? They are a group of people who are over-mythical. " I only agree with half of what Williams said. Yes, their performances are sometimes exaggerated, but in the eyes of ordinary people, who cares about NBA stars far away? They only believe the street basketball heroes they witnessed with their own eyes, and there are many legendary stories that beat NBA stars out of the water. These people are their heroes. It is also the topic they talk about after dinner every day. And I was deeply attracted by these legends. Every day, the NBA is long and short, which is boring enough, just like watching serious news, and occasionally watching some gossip news for a change; Read more elegant and rigorous official history, and occasionally look at some unofficial history and anecdotes circulated by the people, which is very interesting. However, if we want to talk about the British legend of street basketball in new york, no matter what time and space, we should start with "The Goat".1earl manigault, a famous street basketball player in new york in the 1960s and 1970s. Later in my preliminary plan, I will talk about Daniels, the most representative stag in new york street basketball in 1980s, and finally talk about Rafer Alston, the most representative stag in new york street basketball in 1990s. NBA superstar "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar" Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once called "Goat" the greatest player who has never played in the NBA ",which is both a compliment and a pity. Because his basketball talent is rare in a hundred years, but because he strayed into the "black street" of new york, he could not enter the NBA or even college basketball from beginning to end, and finally ended his legendary basketball career in tragedy. Anyone familiar with Jabbar's life knows that he is an arrogant giant and his basketball career is invincible. Why is there such praise for a street basketball player? Because Jabbar has been defeated by Goat, I know what Goat can do. To defeat 7-foot-2-inch Jabbar, this "giant killer" should be at least as tall as Jabbar, like wilt chamberlain, or stronger than Jabbar. For example, in moses malone, "Goat" is neither as tall nor as strong as Jabbar, he is only 6-foot-2-inch! What is even more astounding is his basketball talent, which is extremely elastic and explosive, and can easily win a quarter coin placed at the top of the backboard; Once I bet 60 yuan, and I didn't fall after 36 times. These are still minor cases. His signature dunk "one shot and two shots" is still talked about by neighbors. He can put the ball in the basket in the air first, hold it with the other hand, pull it back and then pour it. If you don't believe his magic in the bullring, then 1964 high school star game, when the goat seized the fast break opportunity and went straight to the frontcourt. A player who retreats to defend is 6' 6 "and a player is 6' 8". Two long people are also ready. After the goat dribbled to the free throw line, no one knew what the goat wanted to do. Two long men jumped up to block the ball at the same time, only to see the goat flying higher and higher, but the two long men had already started to land. The audience was full and the fans stared at the goat. Hands in the air, a goat, over the block of two long people, threw the ball into the basket. At first, the fans were silent and looked at each other. It took a long time to realize what this "skeleton" stunt was, and there was deafening applause. Its elasticity, air suspension ability and endurance are so amazing, not to mention in the 1960s, even in 2 1 century. This goat is two years older than Qiao Ba. At that time, the duel between the two men in the public high school league was the most popular game in new york. 1962, Benjamin Franklin High School led by Goat defeated Bauer Memorial High School led by Jabbar and won the league championship. Qiao Ba was young and unyielding, but the goat left a deep impression on him. Later, he said, "He is the best player with such a figure in the history of new york. "At that time, they were praised by new york as two new stars in the future basketball world. Jabbar is indeed a star of the future. After graduating from high school, he entered UCLA, a strong basketball team of NCAA University, and then rose to NBA, becoming one of the greatest centers in NBA history. However, the goat's life is facing a wave of shocks, completely destroying this future star. In his senior year, he was expelled from the school team for allegedly smoking marijuana. Later, he was transferred to Laurinburg preschool in North Carolina through a friend's introduction, hoping that he could stay away from the street life of black people, think hard and plan the future basketball road. Goat barely graduated from the penultimate place and entered the traditional black university Johnson C. Smith in Charlotte, North Carolina. Goat's study is still not improving, and because the ball style is too avant-garde, the coach picked the shoulder on the school team. Beyond the old pedant's stereotyped style of play, let alone dunk, even the "passing without looking" or dribbling at the back are regarded as evil by the coach. Goats can't stand basketball talent any more, and their creativity is suppressed. He packed his bags and returned to his hometown in Harlem, new york, and continued to live a life of wandering the streets. Goats with hard life and immature minds can only seek liberation in the bullring, where they can pour Jabbar. Giants like Chamberlain and Connie Hawkins, but once out of the bullring, goats are useless, have no goals in life and lack opinions. They can only drift and disappear into the darkness of the street. 1969, goat got compensation for taking heroin and was imprisoned 16 months. While serving his sentence, the writer Pete Axthelm published The City Game at 1970, describing the street basketball in new york. One of the chapters discusses the legendary story of goats in depth. Ironically, the prison guard also signed a book for the goat at that time. Bill Daniels, the owner of Utah Star in ABA NBA, read this book at that time. Goats were invited to take part in the test, but their bodies had been swallowed up by bad products and failed to enter the professional basketball stage as expected. In 1977-79, goats were imprisoned for premeditated robbery. This time, a big fall also left goats in their thirties with nothing. After getting out of prison, they finally realized that they had got rid of the bad habit of smoking, cut off contact with their friends in the black street and made a name for themselves in the past. He also held the "Goat Basketball Championship", hoping that teenagers can learn from him and make a way out by basketball, instead of ruining their future like him. Goat died of heart failure on May 1998 at the age of 53. new york Park Management Office spared no effort to commemorate goat's later promotion of charity basketball. In the same month, the street basketball court at 99th Street and Amsterdam Avenue was renamed "Goat Park". Although goat's legendary career in street basketball has come to an end, anecdotes about him are still circulating in the streets of new york. As long as the goat is mentioned in the bullring, everyone knows it and feels deeply sorry for him. In everyone's mind, he will always be "the greatest player who has never played in the NBA."