(6) Butch McRae, Blue Chips vs. (15) Billy Hoyle, White Men Can’t Jump

THE RULES

“Dirty looks. That’s all I get,” Billy Hoyle messed with his hat. “Dirty. Dirty. All over.” The crowd was gathered around and were passing him stares that could cut right through his sternum. Hoyle moved his head from side to side, searching for one friendly face. Anyone. All he got back was the same thing: squinting eyes, closed lips and jagged brows. Read More »

If we didn’t know any better, off this summer alone, our top five NBA players might read something like this: Kevin Durant…Brandon Jennings…LeBron James…freakin’ Josh Selby…and John Wall. Washington’s finest has been destroying everyone from the blacktop to the gym. As “The Lockout League” has finally taken shape, he’s not doing anything to force us to back off some of the prodigious claims we’ve made about him. He’s going to be a beast, and some of us even think he could eventually be the best point guard in the world. Read More »

(3) Lewis Scott, Celtic Pride vs. (6) Butch McRae, Blue Chips

THE RULES

Butch McRae had felt like this since the day it all started. By the day it all started, he meant the afternoon after practice at Western when he came storming into Pete Bell’s office.

“What is it Butch?” Bell had asked him, only caring to a certain point as he fidgeted around the room, drawing on the whiteboard or grabbing a soda. Read More »

Dirk used a lot of magic this spring in the NBA, but he saved a little something for Turkey. Nowitzki made four huge free throws in the final few seconds to beat Turkey by six. He had 19 for the game, but 13 of those came in the second half. You know Dirk’s one-footed fadeaways? Is there any shot ever that’s crazier? When he’s feeling it, like he was yesterday, he doesn’t even look, just turns his shoulder and chucks the ball at the hoop. The only way that works is through millions of repetitions. Read More »

(6) Butch McRae, Blue Chips vs. (11) Jimmy Chitwood, Hoosiers

THE RULES

You didn’t expect this. Old-school gym. A balcony above the court, one where the edges stick out into the corners. A couple of rusty rims with wooden backboards. Maybe 300 people in the gym and that’s being optimistic. But you’re here nonetheless, and you can’t shake this feeling. It’s balling up inside of you, in your stomach, coming up through your intestines, overbearing your lungs. It’s excitement and anxiety all wrapped in one. Read More »

The line stretches almost around the block. There’s a girl, black hair pulled back in a pony tail, with a Spalding basketball nestled between her arm and torso. A man with an afro squints forward, his eyes panning through the line ahead of him before reaching down with a finger to clean a sliver of dirt off his Jordans and adjusting a device on his ankle. Towards the back, a man dressed in rags is telling anyone that’ll listen that he could once grab a quarter off the top of the backboard. Read More »