While I was in New York last summer for World Basketball Festival, there was much talk of how Kevin Durant had not yet played at NYC’s outdoor basketball mecca, Rucker Park. Well, it seems that an appearance of KD at Rucker was well worth the wait, because he scored 66 points in 1 game the other day. Whaaa?!?!? Video after the jump. Read more »
Since last June’s reveal of the Nike Hyperfuse basketball sneaker during the announcement of World Basketball Festival in New York, sneaker fans like myself have been salivating over any and all things with this treatment. I couldn’t be more excited about my favorite icon from the Nike vault getting the Hyperfuse treatment! The Air Max 1 Hyperfuse containing the signature combination of a base layer, mesh, & protective coating hits retailers in July 2011.
More colorways after the jump. Read more »
video by Joe Martinez
This video recently surfaced from my trip to NY last summer to cover World Basketball Festival. We were on a bus plowing through the streets of NY when we approached a block with 2 UPS trucks parked on both sides of the street. This didn’t daunt our bus driver as he fit through the available space. Inches, people! Inches…
photos by Joe Martinez
On day 2 of the World Basketball Festival events at Rucker Park, Kobe Bryant came out to teach during a Chainlink Fundamentals practice. Chainlink Fundamentals seeks to provide top-notch coaching to any and every kid that comes to their program. And most importantly, free of charge in comparison to other skill camps or clinics that may cost hundreds of dollars that inner-city families just don’t have. Students stopped in their tracks as Kobe made a guest appearance that they were not expecting. Kobe stuck around for the rest of the training session to provide instruction and encouragement to the kids.
photos by Joe Martinez
The Jordan Breakfast Club event kicked off 2 days of non-stop basketball events at NY’s most famous outdoor basketball court, Rucker Park. The guests of honor were Jordan Brand representatives Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony, who were on hand to meet and greet the children from local communities. The children were given a chance to shoot hoops with them as well. It’s to be noted that the usual blacktop at Rucker Park was transformed into a hardwood basketball-ready court for World Basketball Festival. To the surprise of many, Michael Jordan made an appearance.
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After the USA Basketball scrimmage, attendees of the World Basketball Festival Kickoff event at Radio City Music Hall were treated to a surprise musical performance from one of NY’s most notable performers, Jay-Z. I delighted to see that he brought his full band with him. Despite only playing for 25 minutes, the performance was well executed and well rehearsed. Read more »
As part of this summer’s inaugural World Basketball Festival in NYC, Jay-Z has teamed up with Nike to design 5 pairs of “All Black Everything” Air Force 1’s to represent each of the 5 countries participating in the event - USA, China, France, Brazil, & Puerto Rico. Nike has donated the custom pairs for auction to benefit the Shawn Carter Scholarshop Foundation. Jay-Z owns a pair of each design, but now you can bid to be the only other person in the world to have these super limited Air Force 1’s. Bid Here!
Tyson Chandler receives and alley-oop and dunks the game winning basket for the Blue team while Stephen Curry cheers him on.
The USA Basketball Men’s National team had an inter-squad scrimmage at Radio City Music Hall. Half of the team was suited in Blues while the other half was dressed in White. Notable players that were in attendance but have chosen to sit out of this summer’s USA squard were Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudomire, Chris Paul, and LeBron James. Read more »
Charlie Denson, Jerry Colangelo, and Mike Kryrzewski field questions about WBF and Team USA.
“They put a basketball court in Radio City?!?” was my first reaction upon walking into the World Basketball Festival Community Dedication at the historic Radio City Music Hall in Rockefeller Center. Basketball names – Rajon Rondo (USA), Kevin Durant (USA), Yi Jianlian (China), Carlos Arroyo (Puerto Rico), along with Coach Mike “K” Kryrzewski, Jerry Colangelo (USA Basketball Chiarman) and Charlie Denson (Nike Basketball President) officially announced the start of WBF. A dedication ceremony from the New York City Mayor’s Office was followed by a light workshop with youths from Chain Link Foundation. Brief interviews with some of the game’s most notable players followed the ceremony. Read more »
Being an ATLien ain’t easy. People are always trying to claim how their city does this or that better. I don’t really know or care what you think about your city, but I love mine.
ATL has it’s flaws, but what city doesn’t? There are lots of people working to bring more respect to the Southern Capital just like me. I wanted to show that pride when given the opportunity to create my own “__your city name__ AGAINST THE WORLD” tee at World Basketball Festival in NY. I bought 3 of these babies: 1 for me and 1 for each of the EC George’s and apparently 255 Studio is making them now. I had a bro that worked there stop me and take my picture while wearing the tee. He said, “Yea man, we started printing these today”. Well, I made mine 2 days before, cousin. When you have a good idea, word gets around and people jump on it immediately. Can’t hate on that…
