We’ve seen it for years–young people and beyond balling it up in parks and playgrounds around the country playing pick-up games. It’s called “Streetball,” and the sport has grown considerably over the years, including streetball tournaments with teams and players vying to be “Kings of the Court.”
As a youngster, I was introduced to streetball through TV commercials for Hoop It Up: 3 on 3, a nationwide streetball tournament. I learned that Streetball originated in the 1940s, courtesy of Holcombe L. Rucker, a playground director in the NYC Parks Department. Starting in Harlem, the sport spread across the city.
In 1950, Rucker launched a New York City Pro-Am basketball tournament in a small park near Public School (PS) 156 between 155th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. One of the most famous parks in the world for basketball, its courts have catapulted streetballers to the NBA. The list includes Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Allen Iverson, and Kobe Bryant, among many others.
Holcombe L. Rucker has since passed away, but his legacy lives. That park near PS 156 now carries the name Rucker Park.
