New York Street Basketball Legend

Goat "Earl Manigault"

1944-1998 Maybe not many people know him in China, because there is no way to go there. Get in touch with these street basketball masters who are deeply involved in American cities. He is the legendary god of street basketball "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 play in "THE" GOAT” knows a lot about him. 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. After opening the preface of the book, it starts. It 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 player! Star Cousy is not as good as Daniels? The preface alone completely dumbfounded me. Who is Daniels?

In New York street basketball, there are still those monsters and monsters, who even eat NBA stars? This book made me obsessed with New York street basketball, and I also determined that one day I would go to New York if I had the opportunity to experience the street basketball stories described in the book.

Jayson Willaims, the former Nets center who was born in New York, once said: "The most over-hyped players in the world are the so-called 'street basketball legends' because they only played in the neighborhood. Without game offensive and defensive statistics, who knows what their real skills and performance are?

I only agree with Williams, and 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 the street basketball heroes they have witnessed with their own eyes, and there are many legendary stories of these street basketball heroes beating NBA stars to pieces. These talents are in their minds The heroes are also the topic they happily talk about after dinner every day, and I am also deeply attracted by these legendary stories. NBA is long and NBA is short every day, and it is boring enough. It is like watching the same, serious news, but I have to change it occasionally. I like to read gossip news; I read too many rigorous official histories, and occasionally read some unofficial histories and anecdotes circulated among the people, which is very interesting.

But if you want to talk about the legendary figures of New York street basketball. , regardless of time and space, we have to start with "The Goat" Earl Manigault, who was famous for New York street basketball in the 1960s and 1970s.

After that, in my initial planning, I will talk about the 1980s. Daniels, who is very famous for New York street basketball, finally let’s talk about Rafer Alston, the most representative buck of New York street basketball in the 1990s.

NBA superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once called “The Goat”. The greatest player who has never played in the NBA." This sentence is both a compliment and a pity to the "Goat", because his basketball talent is rare to see in a century, but because he strayed into the "underworld" of New York, he was never able to enter. The NBA, or even college basketball, ended his legendary basketball career in tragedy.

Those who are familiar with Jabbar's life know 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 had been defeated by the "Goat" before, and he knew very well what the "Goat" was capable of.

To defeat the 7-foot-2-inch Jabbar, this "giant killer" should be at least as tall as Jabbar, such as Wilt Chamberlain, or stronger than Jabbar, such as Moses Malone, and the "goat" is neither Jabbar is taller and not as strong as Jabbar, he is only 6 feet 2 inches! ~

New York Street Basketball Legend: "Goat" Earl Manigault (Part 2) What is even more astonishing is his basketball talent, extraordinary elasticity and explosiveness, he can easily pick off 25 points placed on the top of the backboard Money and coins; he once bet someone 60 US dollars, and Li Ding dunked 36 times in a row. These were still small cases. His signature slam dunk "one ball, two dunks" is still talked about by neighbors and has endless aftertaste. He can First 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 miraculous 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 flexibility, ability to stay in the air and endurance, not to mention the 1960s, even the 21st century is shocking.

The goat is two years older than Jabbar. At that time, the duel between the two in the public high school league was the hottest game in New York. In 1962, the Goats led their Benjamin Franklin High School to defeat Power Memorial High School, led by Jabbar, and won the league championship. Although Jabbar was young and energetic and refused to admit defeat, he faced Goat admired him and 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 also hailed by New York as two new stars in the future basketball world.

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. 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 into 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 Parks Department spared no effort to promote charity basketball. In the same month, the street basketball court at 99th Street and Amsterdam Avenue was renamed "Goat". Park (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, everyone knows about him and deeply feels sorry for him. In everyone's mind, he will always be "the greatest player who has never played in the NBA." Streetball celebrity---"The Goat" Earl McNicholte

"The so-called streetball legends are all exaggerated. Playing on the street and without game offensive and defensive statistics, who knows who they are? What are your real skills? It’s just a bunch of exaggerated myths.” The words of former Nets rebounding champion Jason Williams hit the nail on the head—in an NBA dominated by statistics, gossip from neighborhood gangsters doesn’t count.

"Hey, does Abdul-Jabbar count as a street gangster? Does Chick Hearn's interview count as gossip? When "Voice of the Lakers" asked Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: "Who is The best player you've ever played against?"

"Wilt Chamberlain. The extremely stingy "Skyhook" actually asked, "In the NBA?" ”

“Even outside the NBA?

"That must be Earl Manicault." "Skyhook" spit out a strange name.

The surname Manicoulter was too long, difficult and too formal for the streets of New York. Even his middle school teacher couldn't pronounce it correctly, so he changed it to "Coulter". In the end, everyone Just remember it as "Goat". When "Goat" controlled the world in New York and was omnipotent, "Goat" was broken down into "The Greatest Of All Time". When young people fight in the streets, the word "Goat" is a respectful term for slam dunk with both hands. "Can you dunk?" "Dunk? Hey, I can Goat!"

Middle-aged "Goat" Born in 1944, "Goat" grew up in a single-parent family in New York. He lacked father's control since childhood. Set foot on the streets early. There, all kinds of terrible temptations are devouring the future of young people every day. Perhaps because he had no money in his pocket, the "goat" didn't get into bad habits when he was a teenager, and he was lucky enough to be obsessed with basketball. Almost every night, on the corner of 130th Street, people can see a skinny black kid barely dunking a basketball. The court is occupied by players from high schools, universities, and even professional teams during the day. Children can only practice ball in the early morning and evening by street lights, hoping that their skills and height will grow quickly, and one day they can challenge the adults. Some passers-by stopped to laugh at the "Goat"'s clumsy dunk - they didn't know that there were two heavy sandbags tied in the "Goat" socks.

When he joined Benjamin Franklin High School in 1962, the "Goat" was an inconspicuous 1.85 meters tall, but his jumping height actually reached an incredible 50 inches---127 centimeters! Betting on the coin on the top of the backboard has always been his specialty. Until later, when everyone in the neighborhood no longer dared to bet with him, the "Goat" came up with another trick - continuous reverse dunks, which he still has to this day. Some New Yorkers remember the scene when "The Goat" dunked 36 times in a row to win $60.

The "Goat"'s ball skills were as amazing as his jumping. He was quickly selected for the high school team and had several fierce battles with Power Memorial High School where Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (whose name was still Lou Alcinde at the time) attended. The two soon became golf buddies and joined forces to sweep the streets.

Off the court, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who is famous throughout the city but has an arrogant temperament, always keeps to himself, while the equally famous "Goat" has made a large group of friends from all walks of life and has developed many bad habits. In his final year of high school, the school expelled "Goat" for smoking marijuana. Although "Goat" later went to jail for drug abuse and robbery and eventually repented, he refused to admit that he had smoked marijuana in high school until his death.