Crave: How did Ball 4 Real get started?

Main: Ball 4 Real got started when a group of guys who wanted to keep the true faith of street ball, I mean, I know it’s entertaining but it’s a group of guys that everybody knows as the core guys at And1 came over here, to Ball 4 Real and Ball 4 Life Entertainment because it is exactly what we’re looking for and the players are the owners of their own team...

Crave: It seems like you guys are considered the modern day Globetrotters, is that true?

Main: Not with this tour, I don’t know where that information came from but, not to knock the Globetrotters, this is our own thing, a genre that we created: street ball, we brought street ball to a medium all the way to where guys at the other company can have jobs. It came from somewhere, not that we’re the ones that get credit for street ball, but for bringing it to the main stream, and making it international, to where you have shows like Mike Streets, NBA streets, and NFL streets, we’re those guys, we are the streets. You can’t duplicate [what we do] no matter the name, the name changes but the game stays the same, and it’s a hard-nosed entertainment game. The Globetrotter’s games are a bit more pre-meditated, you got the Generals, then you have the Globetrotters. If you wanted to look at the situation you could say that we [Ball 4 Real] would be the Globetrotters and the AND1 would be the Generals. But, this is real over here, we play real ball at a high volume, it’s like an NBA playoff game, mixed with an All-Star Game, we do our thing over here and still are touching these communities, it’s still about teaching these kids about going to school, the importance of education, having respect. We were blessed with this talent, we was blessed to be around this good group and staff at the Ball 4 Real/Street Ball Entertainment it’s real over here. The last situation we were in was a little different, we were on different pages, at the end of the day, the players did what they had to do and here is where we are today, at a new company broadening our horizons.

Crave: Will we see you guys back on ESPN soon?

Main: Right now it won’t be ESPN, but it will be one of the major [networks]. It’s not a matter of who, it’s just when. BET is out there, there are a couple different stations out there but you will see it, Fox (for example) it will be real interesting, it’s about to be real, back how used to be, back how it was. We got a nice crew over here, and my company Ball 4 Life, is an enterprise, and on the sports side, right now I have 80% of the top street ballers in the world. So I represent a lot of these guys, management, we have an in house agent, we have gotten guys on just trying to set up things for after basketball, or set up things that are not basketball related so that their families can be successful in a whole nother way, so that its more about them, then it being about hey you can play basketball I want you to sign with my company Ball 4 Life, naw it’s not like that. It’s ‘each one, teach one’ and it’s good to have that foundation, have that support, that inner support as well as outer support. We here, this is Ball 4 Real world tour and we about to make it happen. Mountain Dew (sponsor), the show is gonna be crazy, we got the car show, and we’ve never had that in the past, inline skating, so you don’t have to be a sporting fan, if you like entertainment, then this is the place to be.

Crave: Well, it sounds like you guys have a lot going on, does that mean that the NBA a no longer a consideration for some of the players?

Main: Oh no, that’s definitely a push, I’ll tell you, coming out of Ball 4 Life camp we’re grooming these guys to push to go to the NBA, to take nothing for granted, we started our own genre and the NBA is the NBA, and of course these young guys have aspirations to go to the NBA, and there are a couple of guys here, believe it or not, that can go to the NBA but it depends on how bad they want it. As far as the moral support, they have the support, they have the backing of Ball 4 Real, the backing of Ball 4 Life, so it’s up to them. That’s the first thing I do with all my clients before we discuss anything, they have to fill out a sheet they have to write down their goals and the things they want to accomplish that is not basketball related, then they have to write down the things that are basketball related and figure out how our company can be beneficial to them as well. So, guys like Mr. 720 have the aspiration to go to the NBA, Special Effects wants to go to the NBA, so we have some guys that really want to push themselves, and go over the limit. This is a stepping stone, a very good stepping stone. This is Ball 4 Real, athleticism, you’ll see everything, creativity, there’s nothing that you will miss at this game, you just have to be there to see it live. It will be on TV, but you want to see it live.

Crave: How long has Ball 4 Life been around?

Main: Ball 4 Life has been around since 1998, we’ve been doing a lot of community based events coming out of [New] Jersey. It’s a branch of H.A.D. incorporated, and H.A.D. incorporated is helping adolescents develop hitting all dimensions.

Crave: How important is community outreach to what you do, and what organizations are you involved with right now?

Main: It’s very very important, right now we’re involved with the ‘Make A Wish’ foundation I give to a lot of different charities, but more in the inner city communities because the way I look at the whole thing is the way I feel about my community is the way I feel about every community. I haven’t been to a community, or a country where people are saying, “We’re comfortable, we don’t want to strive for anything.” Everywhere I go, all the people I’ve been around, their trying to strive for that same thing, which is success. I try to gear myself, and teach the kids about gearing themselves and having goals, making small plans and really just going after those plans. So, the message is the same and the message is coming from the heart, because of basketball, I think the creator gave me the ability to have skills to play basketball, but as well talk to the people, it doesn’t have to be kids, it could be adults. Some people have changed my thoughts at times based on just having a conversation. We need to talk more as just human beings with one another instead of having so much energy. It takes more muscles in your face to frown than it does to smile, so we are just trying to push that message, and work on education, you have to try and go to school as far as you can, I know it’s hard but it will pay off. I have a son, and he’s a freshman in college and he’s already gearing himself to go to school for six years because he’s a criminal justice major. So you have to gear yourself and set goals and we push that, it’s really from my heart and it means a lot, community awareness cause there’s a lot of things going on worldwide and it starts with the youth. And parents have to be parents, you can’t be out doing the same things that your kids are doing, there are a lot of teenage parents out there and we have to educate our kids, but to educate our kids we have to be educated.

Crave: On a separate note, we know you’re from New Jersey, but what has been your favorite place in the country to visit or tour.

Main: Everyone asks me that question, and I have to give the same answer because it’s the truth, I really can’t in particular pick out one. I take every approach the same; there might be a different amount of people there, or maybe a different language. I treat the people the same, and we’re treated with much love, so I really don’t take time out to say that I like this city compared to that city, because it’s the same, you have the same things, and the same people, but just doing different things in a different city and a different state. But what I can say is that there are places that touched my heart and made me understand and feel fortunate like, “Damn this is really something.” Are places like Serbia, places that they call third world countries, that’s amazing to me to see a four year old walking the streets saying that he’s looking to get into a refugee camp and he doesn’t know where his next meal is coming from. That right there touches me, because that’s a kid who has to guide himself. It’s just seeing the reality of life and really cherishing it, and being happy with the things that we have and just knowing that it’s a blessing. Because we have problems but there is somebody out there with worse problems than we have and you have to take that into consideration with the way that we treat people, the way that we react towards comments, just live life as you have one life to live. That’s what we go by, you got a group of guys that through basketball we have been able to do so many other things, so many other things that are just not basketball related.

Crave: How has street ball affected the NBA fan base and how all those players are viewed.

Main: We know a lot of those players so we get a chance to interact with those guys during the off-season. We get a chance to interact with those guys at Rucker Park (New York), I played out there for ten years, players like Ron Artest, Elton Brand, a good friend of mine who to this day is trying to push me to go to the NBA, he’s been in my corner and given me much support so I thank him every chance that I get. It gets to the point that NBA players want to come over here and be at our events to play and try and get street credibility. It may sound crazy, but you have a lot [of NBA players] that really want to put that on their resume.

Crave: Why is that?

Main: Because for me street ball has always been here, for me it was a safe haven. Growing up in New Jersey, travelling to New York City, playing all around the tri-state area, that were a lot of things that even today are still going on. My parents could drop me off at the 4^th Ward park where I’m from and they knew that I was safe there. It was about going there as a safe haven and watching the local legends. The Larry McGee’s and the Paiges and stuff, those are the local legends around my way who people know, Skip Floyd, and Corey Floyd, guys like that. And I’m like dag, I wanna be like those guys. Then I got introduced to the New York city scene of basketball, learning the history of Peewee Kirkland, and Joe Hammond and Helicopter and guys like that who really paved the way, but really played the game and they didn’t get paid to play, so when I’m out there playing, it’s not for the money, we need the money for the world just to revolve, but it’s really for those guys man, it’s for the guys that really played street ball at Rucker Park when people where standing on the light poles, I play for those guys, I play for my city, I play for your city, I play for the people I play for my family. So it’s more than just going to a game and saying’ “Well I gotta stop my man, and he not gone stop me.” I take all things into consideration; I’m a teacher to the sport. I have the number one show on demand, on sports school, check that out, you can learn some skills, some strength, a few little tips to help your game, the average person can watch this show. Some of my label mates are Mia Hamm, Bill Walton, and Mike Vick, so it’s very interesting, and I have the number one show after last week and [the show] it hits over 29 to thirty million viewers. So I am a teacher of the game and I am the street dream, not to sound like a big head or anything like that but, there was a way I had to plan and everything, and the plan has worked out. To have guys, male or female to have a direction to go in, a positive direction to continue to do a sport that they love, and on top of that be successful one way or another because it’s just a stepping stone, you have to figure out what you can do on the court and how that will help you in your up and coming future, then figure out how to take all of these things and see how they can help you outside of basketball, how did you go over and talk to this kid and touch his life ten years ago, when the other company started and the idea I had to take the best street ball players that are not in the NBA and have them promote your brand.

Crave: So, what effect does that have on the younger generation?

Main:  Those kids that followed us were seven years old, and they’re 17 now, so we have a very huge fan base, and a lot of kids I’ve seen are like how can I get on a street ball team and I’m like man how old are you? You shouldn’t be thinking like that, you should be thinking about how your gonna make good grades, how your gonna make your college team, the high school team, because those things are very important, you see things on TV and you have kids that reach for goals, and you have adults reaching for goals, and I hate to say this but, it’s hard to become a professional athlete, it’s hard to go into professional entertainment and I try and get the youth to think outside the box. If you ask ten kids, five kids what they want to be in the future, they are going to say what we said when we was kids, I’m 33 years old and I know when I was [younger] I said I wanna be a cop, I wanna be a rapper, I wanna be a wrestler, a football player, I wanna be a doctor, or a fireman, but those things the window is so small. Well how about this, how many kids say, “Well, know what? I wanna own the team, I wanna own the building that they play in, I wanna cut the checks, I wanna own the uniform company.” We have to get the kids thinking like that. Think outside the box and things will work out, but you have to have the education, and be willing to work and sacrifice, these are the things that I didn’t do, I didn’t go straight to the NBA, I didn’t sacrifice, I was doing so much stuff for other people, instead of going into the gym to shoot a thousand shots, instead it was go work on this go work on that, and in the end I had to create my own genre.

Crave: Is that why you do what you do?

Main: Because I love the sport, I love street ball, I love the up close, and hard nose, diving on the court, inside, outside, I’m giving you a hard-nosed game because of the things that I’ve been through, the courts that I’ve played on. New York City helped my game out a lot, because it put a certain stamp on my game, being from New Jersey. Out there year after year, I have a very huge history at Rucker Park, and meeting a lot of guys, real guys. So with that company that we was with it was real hard for me to put that stamp on certain individuals, not to knock the person, because a lot of their dudes are good guys, but when it comes to the street ball thing it was very hard, but now we can let it all hang over here because it’s Ball 4 Real and we’re bringing the true intelligence back to street ball, it’s back, it’s never left, but it’s back. This is amazing, I’m so happy to be a part of this thing, a lot of new guys, I’m thrilled and it’s on. We got High Octane back, BX, through the ‘politricks’ he was pushed to the side but we a family over here, anybody fall back we are each other’s crutch, no matter what the situation, we making it happen man. For each other and for our families, this is a real tour.