New York Street Basketball Legend: "Goat" Earl Manigault
1944-1998 Perhaps not many people in China know him, because there is simply no way to get in touch with these people who are deeply involved in American cities. A street basketball master, he is the legendary god of street basketball "The Goat" who was once famous on the streets of New York. His real name is Earl Manigault. If you want to truly understand street basketball, then maybe you can learn a lot about "THE GOAT".
There is such a book called "Swee'pea and other playground legends". "Swee'pea" is Daniels' nickname. This book uses Daniels as the starting point to introduce New York street basketball legends. The preface of this book shocked me, and I had to read it to the end.
The preface reads: "One day there were two old fans chatting in the New Jersey Basketball Arena. When the visiting team Celtics lounge walked out of the retired star point guard Bob Cousy , one of the old fans raised his voice and said: "Isn't it Cousy, 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", is both suspicious and a little unhappy? He turned around and asked: "The second greatest? Who is the greatest?" The veteran player said disdainfully: "You must have heard of Lloyd Daniels' name!"
The famous former NBA star! Cousy is not as good as Daniels? The preface alone made me dumbfounded. Who is Daniels?
What kind of ghosts and monsters are there in New York street basketball, even NBA stars? This book makes me think? I became fascinated by New York street basketball, and I also determined that one day I would go to New York and experience the street basketball stories described in the book.
Jayson Willaims, a former Nets center who was born in New York, once said. Quote: "The most over-hyped players in the world are the so-called 'street basketball legends', because they only played in the neighborhood and have no game offensive and defensive statistics. Who knows what their true skills and performance are? They are an overly mythical group. ”
I only agree with half of what Williams said. Yes, their performance is sometimes over-exaggerated, but in the eyes of ordinary people, who cares about NBA stars who are out of reach? They only believe in what they have witnessed with their own eyes. There are many street basketball heroes, and there are many legendary stories of these street basketball heroes beating NBA stars to pieces. These talents are the heroes in their hearts, and they are also the topics they enjoy talking about after dinner every day.
And I also. I am deeply attracted by these legendary stories. Every day, the NBA is long and the NBA is short. It is also boring enough. It is like I am used to watching the same, serious news, and occasionally I have to watch some gossip news for a change; after watching too many rigorous official histories, I occasionally It would be more interesting to look at some unofficial histories and anecdotes circulating among the people.
However, if we want to talk about New York street basketball legends, no matter in any time and space, they must be famous in New York in the 1960s and 1970s. Talking about "The Goat" Earl Manigault of street basketball,
After that, in my preliminary plan, I will talk about Daniels, who was very popular in New York street basketball in the 1980s, and finally I will talk about the streets of New York in the 1990s. Basketball’s most representative Buck Rafer Alston
NBA superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once called “The Goat” “the greatest player who has never played in the NBA.” "Goat" is both a compliment and a pity, because his basketball talent is rare to see in a century, but because he strayed into the "black streets" of New York, he was never able to enter the NBA, and he couldn't even get involved in college basketball, and it ended in tragedy. His legendary basketball career.
Everyone who is familiar with Jabbar’s life knows that he was an aloof giant and was invincible throughout his basketball career. Why would he speak so highly of a street basketball player? Because Jabbar has been defeated by the "Goat" before, he knows very well what the "Goat" is capable of.
To defeat the 7-foot-2-inch Jabbar, this "Giant Killer" should be at least as tall as Jabbar, for example. Wilt Chamberlain is otherwise stronger than Jabbar, such as Moses Malone. The "Goat" is neither as tall nor as strong as Jabbar. He is only 6 feet 2 inches.
What is even more astonishing is his basketball talent! , with extraordinary elasticity and explosive power, he can easily pick off the 25-cent coin placed on the top of the backboard; he once made a bet of 60 US dollars with someone, and he poured down the ball 36 times in a row. These were all small cases, and his signature dunk "one ball" "Double Dump" is still talked about by neighbors and has endless aftertaste. He can stuff the ball into the basket in the air, catch it with the other hand, pull it back and dunk it again.
If you don’t believe in his magical skills in the bullring, then in the 1964 high school all-star game, Goat showed off his free throw line and dunked with two hands. That’s enough!
At that time, the Goat seized the fast break opportunity and ran straight to the frontcourt. One of the players retreating was 6 feet 6 inches, and the other was 6 feet 8 inches. The Goat was planning his steps. These two tall men We also set up a dragnet to prepare for the attack. The goat dribbled to the free throw line and then collected the ball and took off. No one knew what the goat wanted to do when it took off from the free throw line. The two tall men jumped up to block the ball at the same time. They saw the goat flying higher and higher, but these two tall men had already started. After landing, the whole stadium was full of fans staring closely at the Goat. In an instant, the Goat raised his hands and surpassed the two tall men to block the ball, slamming the ball into the basket. The fans were silent at first and looked at each other. They stayed there for a while before they realized what this was. The "Dead Man's Bones" miraculous skill was met with deafening applause. Such amazing elasticity, ability to stay in the air and endurance, not to mention the 1960s, even in the 21st century, it is still shocking.
The Goats are two years older than Jabbar. At that time, the two men played against each other in the public high school league, which was the hottest game in New York. In 1962, the Goats led Benjamin Franklin High School to defeat Power Memorial High School, led by Jabbar, and won the championship. Although Jabbar was young and energetic and refused to admit defeat, he admired the goat. He later said: "He is the best player with such a figure in the history of New York." The two became famous for a while and were praised by New York as the future. Two rising stars in basketball.
Jabbar is indeed a future star. After graduating from high school, he entered the NCAA college basketball power UCLA, and then entered the NBA and became one of the greatest centers in NBA history.
Goat's life was faced with a series of shocks, which completely destroyed this future star. In his senior year of high school, he was expelled from the school team for allegedly smoking marijuana. Later, he transferred to North Carolina through the introduction of a friend. Laurinburg Preparatory School, I hope he can stay away from the underworld life and think hard about and plan his future basketball path. Goat reluctantly graduated second from the bottom and entered Johnson C. Smith, a historically black college in Charlotte, North Carolina. He still didn't make any progress in his studies. On the school team, he got into trouble with the coach because his playing style was too avant-garde and over-the-top. Even the old-school eight-legged style of the game at that time, not to mention slam dunks, even the "No look pass" or behind-the-back dribbling were regarded by coaches as evil ways. Goats could no longer tolerate basketball talent and creativity. Suffering from depression, he packed up and returned to his hometown in Harlem, New York, and continued to live a life on the streets.
With a hard life and an immature mind, the goat can only seek relief in the bullring. In the bullring, the goat can overwhelm giants such as Jabbar, Chamberlain and Connie Hawkins, but once out, In the bullring, the goat is useless, has no goals in life, and lacks any opinion. He can only drift with the tide and disappear in the darkness of the street.
In 1969, Goat was convicted of heroin abuse and imprisoned for 16 months. During his sentence, writer Pete Axthelm published the book "The City Game" in 1970, describing New York street basketball. One chapter delves into the legend of the goat, which ironically involves a prison guard giving the goat a book to sign.
Bill Daniels, the owner of the Utah Stars of the ABA National Basketball League at the time, had read this book and invited goats to participate in the test. However, the goats' bodies had long been eaten away by the drug. He failed to reach the professional basketball stage as he wished.
From 1977 to 1979, Goat was imprisoned again for premeditated robbery. This time, the 30-year-old Goat lost everything. After he was released from prison, he finally realized his enlightenment, got rid of his bad habit of smoking, and started dating friends on the underworld. He cut off all contacts and promoted grassroots basketball in the former bullring. In addition to serving as a voluntary coach, he also held the "Goat Basketball Championship". He hoped that young people could use him as an example and use basketball to find a prosperous road instead of being like him. Self-destruction.
Goat passed away due to heart failure on May 15, 1998 at the age of 53. In order to commemorate Goat, the New York Park Service spared no effort to promote charity basketball. The street basketball court was renamed "Goat Park".
Although Goat's legendary street basketball career has come to an end, strange things about him are still circulating in the streets of New York. As long as Goat is mentioned in the bullring, no one knows about him. I deeply feel sorry for him. In everyone's mind, he will always be "the greatest player who has never played in the NBA."