Asphalt Gods: An Oral History of the Rucker Tournament

Asphalt Gods: An Oral History of the Rucker Tournament
by Vincent M. Mallozzi

Asphalt Gods: An Oral History of the Rucker Tournament
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Book Summary Information

Author: Vincent M. Mallozzi
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2003-06-17
ISBN: 0385506759
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Doubleday

Book Reviews of Asphalt Gods: An Oral History of the Rucker Tournament

Book Review: BALLERS
Summary: 5 Stars

Asphalt Gods is the best book on the planet.If you love basketball you should read this book.It is a true story which took place at Rucker Park.Rucker Park is named after the brother named Holcombe Rucker.Who was born in Harlem on March 2,1926.He was raised by his grandmother.It is interesting because Mr.Rucker brought some of the best players ever to play there.

Summary of Asphalt Gods: An Oral History of the Rucker Tournament

The real basketball deal-the inside story of Harlem's legendary tournament and the pros and playground legends who have made it world famous.

Earl "The Goat" Manigault. Herman "Helicopter" Knowings. Joe "The Destroyer" Hammond. Richard "Pee Wee" Kirkland. These and dozens of other colorfully nicknamed men are the "Asphalt Gods," whose astounding exploits in the Rucker Tournament, often against multimillionaire NBA superstars, have made them playground divinity. First established in the 1950s by Holcombe Rucker, a New York City Parks Department employee, the tournament has grown to become a Harlem institution, an annual summer event of major proportions. On that fabled patch of concrete, unknown players have been lighting it up for decades as they express basketball as a freestyle art among their peers and against such pro immortals as Julius Erving and Wilt Chamberlain. X's and O's are exchanged for oohs and aahs in one of the great examples of street theater to be found in urban America.

Asphalt Gods is a streetwise, supremely entertaining oral history of a tournament that has influenced everything from NBA playing style to hip-hop culture. Now, legends transmitted by word of mouth find a home and the achievements of basketball's greatest unknowns a permanent place in the game's record.

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