Ready or not, summer—and its unique style of play—is just about here, and we’re ready. SLAM Presents Streetball (with a dope cover story by Lang, who will break it out on the site shortly) is on sale next week, and most big Tourneys will be kicking off in June. Then there’s the AND1 Mixtape Tour, which has been remixed, so to speak, but is still going strong. Matt Caputo checks in with the Mixtapers during their visit this week to NYC.
For the hoops-obsessed, basketball season never ends—it only changes. Over the last eight summers, the AND1 mixtape tour has bridged the gap between the NBA playoffs and season tip-off with science-defying dunks and jaw-dropping dribbling. Because of the tour’s coverage on ESPN and past endorsements with Mountain Dew, AND1’s roster of national asphalt stars are arguably the most recognizable basketball players outside of the NBA. This summer, AND1, the company, and AND1, the team, promise more of the usual tricks, as well as trying some new ones.
“Man, I’m so excited about the tour playing outside agan,†says Kenny Brunner, or “Bad Santa,†after the AND1 team’s second practice of the year in the gym at Manhattan’s Baruch College. “I love the outside atmosphere like in Venice Beach and it’s a different environment for the fans. You know, I dive on the floor, so it’s going to be a chance to so who has the heart to take a charge and to dive outside.â€
After a 10-month hiatus, I have decided to being posting articles, news, videos, and more importantly this time around, my opinions. AND1 vs. Ball 4 Real yada yada yada whatever. I've been following these street dudes for 7 years now and it's time I use my position to input my own ideas.
So anyway, I'll post up all the AND1 news and all the Ball 4 Real news as frequently as I can for those of you who aren't as informed. To make a long story short, a very important PR member decided to resign from AND1, causing a chain reaction right down to the players. A new company, Ball 4 Real houses most of the mixtape stars that have broken away from the company. AND1 with a 10-city tour, and Ball 4 Real with a 30+ city tour.
Let me tell you folks, this summer will be interesting. Let me also tell you that this new Ball 4 Real team might take the nation by storm.
ElevationMag.com recently caught up with the USA Hoop Stars co-founder, star player and West Coast Streetballer of the Year, Jay “Boogie†Brantley who is just back from a 22 day tour in China. With the apparent basketball invasion occurring in Asia, we wanted to discuss the Hoops Stars’ China tour and what we can expect from Jay ‘Boogie†and the USA Hoop Stars in the future.
The USA Hoop Stars is a team created by HazenSports international, a company based out of Guangzhou, China along with Los Angeles based Asia Sports and Entertainment and Jay “Boogie†Brantley to be the modern day hip hop version of the Harlem Globe Trotters. Comprised of American college, professional and streetball stars, The 22 day China tour wasn’t about money for the sponsors or the team, it was more so about spreading the American basketball culture and sport to other places in the world while developing a friendship between China and the United States through this great sport. For many of the Chinese fans it was also the first time they've ever seen foreigners, let alone 6-10 American basketball players...
ElevationMag.com - You know and we all know that the clothes don’t make the man. Yeah, but the shoes seem to be making the player. ElevationMag’s been doing a bit of homework on the ‘shoe thing’ with the help of some of the German engineers that design the k1x line. Somewhere back in the nineties, these guys along with a number of other smart companies started designing the shoe specifically for the game and the men that play the game. These things are put together with more precision and more research than probably went into the making the first electronic scoreboard. Somewhere along the line, the simple Chuck Taylor’s evolved into Air’s, Pumps, Chiefgliders, and Evolutions.
You, I and every player in every league now demand the best we can afford. Back in the crazy eighties, you could get shot for a pair of fly kicks. Now everyone just seems to have them. The pro’s don’t sweat that, they just get ‘em, and replace them just about every game these days. Weird how the original ‘Air’ Jordan’s namesake never got into that…. To satisfy this new addiction to great shoes new companies, websites and a new breed of honest to god ‘engineers’ have stepped up to answer the call. These things are now a piece of art, or science or really both I guess...
One of the most prized possessions of my teen years was a well-worn copy of the And 1 Mixtape, Volume 1. I still remember the day my buddies and I rushed to Foot Action (the sports apparel outfit) to buy an And 1 product–the company was running a promotion where all you had to do was buy a product of theirs and the tape was yours–just to get our hands on the grainy footage of then-16 year old Rafer “Skip to my Lou†Alston. Each of us grabbed an armband (hey, no one said we were rich) off the shelf and practically tripped over each other on the mad dash to the counter to claim the tape, and I guess to pay for the armband.
We then ran to the nearest house we could find that had a VCR and excitedly popped in the tape and positioned our jaws directly on the floor for the next 18 minutes or so. This was one of the most captivating things any of us had ever seen. Skip and his playground friends were playing a game we were not aware even existed until that day. We practically broke my buddy Patrick’s VCR while constantly rewinding the tape to oooh and aaahhh over the crossovers, the dunks, but most of all, the tricks. I had never imagined that someone could bring the ball upcourt and casually bounce it off the defender’s noggin, regain possession and continue on his merry way to the hoop as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world. This was revolutionary stuff...
It has been a long summer for the AND1 mixtape crew. Starting in Los Angeles, CA way back on June 4th, the group has criss-crossed the country in the span of three months. They have electrified crowds in 25 different cities. They have throw alley-oops and dunked on locals from Portland, Oregon to Miami, Florida. On Friday night, the tour reached its final destination - the Mecca of Basketball - Madison Square Garden.
The crowd was fired up from the very start and the players gave them every reason to stay on their feet. The fans were brought out of there seats constantly by the patented ridiculous dunks and dribbling displays. Team AND1 ended up winning, but as we all know, that certainly is not the most important aspect of the night. The main emphasis is to entertain the crowd, and that was certainly a mission accomplished...
Friday night InsideHoops.com was in Madison Square Garden for the final game of the 2006 AND1 streetball mixtape tour. Cirucs, Springs and Special F/X were battling for the celebrated AND1 contract which would place them on the official mixtape team for the next year. The winner was Circus, who had been on the entire tour since walking on from the first Open Run of the summer. The 5-10, 175-pound Brooklyn point guard went to St. Patrick's high school in New Jersey, Witchita State, and has some ABA minor league experience.
Here's what Circus, whose real name is Jerome Holman, said to InsideHoops.com and a few other reporters mere minutes after being announced as the 2006 AND1 endorsement deal winner...
The terror alert was set to high in the nation's capitol and it could only be because wrd got out that AND1 was in town. Capitalizing on another win, AND1 beat the "district" boys 108 to 92.
Born and raised in DC, Baby Shack went back to the crib to change a few dirty diapers scoring 21 points and grabbing 5 rebounds. "It doesn't make any difference if I play in DC or in any other city, I keep my game the same, but it's cool to have your home crowd."
Yet to come up with another win since Denver, the class clown Circus still took the show on the road adding 22 points, including 6 three's, 3 assists, and 1 steal. Congratulations to the Circus for winning the 2006 AND1 contract including the $25,000 thrown in by Old Spice. Circus is the first contest player to have survived the ENTIRE tour AND get signed to AND1. A review on the final game where Circus took the contract in NYC at The Garden will be up shortly.
The Notic: Uncut & Unreleased
And1 vs. ATL All-Stars
Ready or not, summer—and its unique style of play—is just about here, and we’re ready. SLAM Presents Streetball (with a dope cover story by Lang, who will break it out on the site shortly) is on sale next week, and most big Tourneys will be kicking off in June. Then there’s the AND1 Mixtape Tour, which has been remixed, so to speak, but is still going strong. Matt Caputo checks in with the Mixtapers during their visit this week to NYC. 
ElevationMag.com recently caught up with the USA Hoop Stars co-founder, star player and West Coast Streetballer of the Year, Jay “Boogie†Brantley who is just back from a 22 day tour in China. With the apparent basketball invasion occurring in Asia, we wanted to discuss the Hoops Stars’ China tour and what we can expect from Jay ‘Boogie†and the USA Hoop Stars in the future.
ElevationMag.com - You know and we all know that the clothes don’t make the man. Yeah, but the shoes seem to be making the player. ElevationMag’s been doing a bit of homework on the ‘shoe thing’ with the help of some of the German engineers that design the k1x line. Somewhere back in the nineties, these guys along with a number of other smart companies started designing the shoe specifically for the game and the men that play the game. These things are put together with more precision and more research than probably went into the making the first electronic scoreboard. Somewhere along the line, the simple Chuck Taylor’s evolved into Air’s, Pumps, Chiefgliders, and Evolutions. 
One of the most prized possessions of my teen years was a well-worn copy of the And 1 Mixtape, Volume 1. I still remember the day my buddies and I rushed to Foot Action (the sports apparel outfit) to buy an And 1 product–the company was running a promotion where all you had to do was buy a product of theirs and the tape was yours–just to get our hands on the grainy footage of then-16 year old Rafer “Skip to my Lou†Alston. Each of us grabbed an armband (hey, no one said we were rich) off the shelf and practically tripped over each other on the mad dash to the counter to claim the tape, and I guess to pay for the armband.
It has been a long summer for the AND1 mixtape crew. Starting in Los Angeles, CA way back on June 4th, the group has criss-crossed the country in the span of three months. They have electrified crowds in 25 different cities. They have throw alley-oops and dunked on locals from Portland, Oregon to Miami, Florida. On Friday night, the tour reached its final destination - the Mecca of Basketball - Madison Square Garden. 
Friday night InsideHoops.com was in Madison Square Garden for the final game of the 2006 AND1 streetball mixtape tour. Cirucs, Springs and Special F/X were battling for the celebrated AND1 contract which would place them on the official mixtape team for the next year. The winner was Circus, who had been on the entire tour since walking on from the first Open Run of the summer. The 5-10, 175-pound Brooklyn point guard went to St. Patrick's high school in New Jersey, Witchita State, and has some ABA minor league experience.
