Earl Manigert-Introduction
Perhaps not many people in China know him, because there is no way to get in touch with these street basketball experts who are going deep into American cities. He is the legendary street basketball god "goat", whose real name is Earl galt. If you really want to know about street basketball, then maybe you can learn a lot from Goat.
There is a book called "Sweeping the Legends of Playgrounds such as Peas". "Pea" is Daniels' nickname. Based on Daniels, this book introduces the legendary street basketball in New York. I just opened the preface of this book, and I was shocked and finally had to read it. The preface reads like this: "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 Robert Joseph Cousy in the Celtic lounge, one of the old fans started talking 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 selected into the "Hall of Fame", looked back with suspicion and some unhappiness and asked,' The second greatest? Then who is the greatest? Old Ball said disdainfully,' You must have heard the name Lloyd Daniels! '
Former nba star Cousy is not as good as Daniels? The preface alone stunned me. Who is Daniels? What kind of ghosts and monsters are there in new york street basketball, and even nba stars have been beaten? This book fascinated me with street basketball in new york, and I made up my mind to go to new york one day if I had the chance to experience the street basketball story described in the book.
Earl Manigat-Life
Jayson willaims, a former Nets center from new york, once said: "The most boastful players in the world are the so-called' street basketball legends' because they only played in their neighbors' homes, and there are no statistics on offensive and defensive games. Who knows their real skills and performance? They are a group of over-mythical people. "
I only agree with half of what Williams said. Yes, their performance is 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, and they are also the topics 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. For example, I am used to watching the same serious news, and occasionally I have to watch some gossip news for a change. It is also very interesting to read more rigorous official history and occasionally look at some unofficial history and anecdotes circulated by the people.
However, if we want to talk about the legendary English characters of street basketball in new york, we should start with earl manigault, the famous "goat" who shocked street basketball in new york in the 1970s and 1970s.
After that, in my preliminary plan, I will talk about Daniels, the most famous street basketball player in new york in 1980s, and finally talk about Alston, the most representative stag in new york in 1990s.
Nba superstar "Karim Abdel-Gabbar" Abdel-Gabbar once called "Goat" the greatest player who has never played in nba. This sentence is good or bad for "goat" because his basketball talent is rare in a hundred years. However, because he strayed into the "black street" in new york, he was unable to enter the nba from beginning to end, and even failed to get in touch with college basketball. Finally, he ended his legendary basketball career with 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 Qiao Ba was defeated by a goat, he knew the goat's ability too well.
To defeat 7' 2 "Jabbar, the" Giant Killer "must be at least as tall as Jabbar, like wilt chamberlain, or stronger than Jabbar. For example, Moses Malone, "goat" is neither tall nor strong, he is only 6 feet 2 inches!
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 stopped to pour wine 36 times in a row. These are still minor cases. His signature slam dunk "one goal and two falls" still makes neighbors talk about it. He can put the ball into the basket in the air, hold it with the other hand, pull it back and then pour it.
If you don't believe in his magic skills in the bullring, then in the 1964 high school star game, the goat showed the free throw line and dunked with both hands, which is enough!
At that time, 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". The goat is planning his steps, and the two long men are ready for a tight encirclement. After the goat dribbled to the free throw line, it took off. No one knows what the goat wants to do when he jumps from the free throw line. At the same time, two long people jumped up and blocked it, only to see the goat flying higher and higher. These two long people have started to land, and the audience is full of fans staring at the goat. It's time to brake. With his hand in the air, the goat caught up with two long men to block the ball and slammed it into the basket. The fans were silent and looked at each other for a while before they realized what a "dead bone" it was.
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 Power Memorial High School led by Jabbar and won the league championship. Although Qiao Ba is young and unyielding, he is deeply impressed by this goat. Later, he said, "He is the best player in new york's history with such a figure." At that time, they became radiant, and new york praised them as two new stars of basketball in the future.
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 went to nba, becoming one of the greatest centers in nba history.
Goat's life is facing a wave of shocks, completely destroying the star of tomorrow. In the third year of high school, 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 black street life, 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 schoolwork still hasn't improved. He plays ball with the coach on the school team. Because of his avant-garde style, he surpassed the eight-legged style of the old pedant of his time. Let alone dunk, even "not watching the pass" or dribbling behind the back are regarded as evil spirits by the coach. Goats can't stand basketball any more.
Life is hard and the mind is immature, so goats can only seek liberation in the bullring. In the bullring, goats can knock down giants like Jabbar, Chamberlain and Connie Hawkins, but once out of the bullring, goats are useless, and they have no goals in life and lack opinions. They can only drift and disappear in the dark streets.
1969, goats were fabricated for taking heroin and imprisoned 16 months. While serving his sentence, the writer Pete Axo published the book the city game in 1970, which described the street basketball in new york, and one chapter of it deeply discussed the legendary story of goats. Ironically, the prison guard also signed a book for the goat at that time.
At that time, Bill Daniels, the owner of Utah Star in aba American professional basketball league, read the book and invited goats to take the test. However, goats' bodies have been eaten up by products, and they failed to enter the professional basketball stage as they wished.
1977-79 goat was jailed again for premeditated robbery. This time, a big fall also left goats in their thirties with nothing. After he got out of prison, he finally realized that he had got rid of the bad habit of smoking and broke up with his friends in the dark street. He used to promote grassroots basketball in the famous bullring. In addition to being a volunteer coach, he also held the "goat basketball championship", hoping that teenagers can learn from him.
Goat died of heart failure in May 1998 at the age of 53. In the same month, new york Park Management Office spared no effort to commemorate the goat's later promotion of charity basketball, and renamed the street basketball court at 99th Street and Amsterdam Avenue "Goat Park".
Goat's legendary street basketball career has come to an end, but strange things about him are still circulating in the streets of new york. As long as he is mentioned in the bullring, everyone knows that he is deeply sorry for him. In everyone's mind, he will always be "the greatest player who has never played in the nba."