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Shaquille
O'Neal: "When you are 60, hang out with 60-year-olds, not 20-year-olds.
That is all I got to say about Jerry Buss."
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HoopsHype.com Articles Who
got game?
"Who got game? Who got next?" That's what they holla at FCI Gilmer in the gym and on the yard. Ain't no faking it dudes is trying to ball. "Get mine or be mine" is what they say. Out on the court cats live by the creed "go hard or go home." And that's difficult to do when you're in prison. All you can do is go back to the cell. There ain't no hiding out on the pound. Dudes will find you and they take the talk game just as serious. Back on the block, they are all up in front of the TV watching the NBA action. And certain players are more respected and admired than others. Maybe it's their street mentality or their ghetto fabulous attitude or their inner city chic or their hip-hop like posse. But whatever it is, it involves their ability to go hard and scream in the face of adversity. In the League, teammates of these players know that dude got their back. They know with these cats that it's whatever. The players prisoners admire are vicious and intimidating. Hated by many, feared by most, loved by few, but respected by all. That's just the way they carry it. But dudes wonder how would these multi-millionaire, pampered athletes cope in here. Because in America's gulags, shit gets rough and the drama can jump off at any moment. Game time or not. And the refs ain't trying to pull nobody apart. Usually whatever happens in the game carries over to the pound. Homeboys get involved and an errant elbow of flagrant foul turns into a full-scale beef. I'm talking all out warfare. And there ain't no hired bodyguards to watch their back. Only cops with walkie-talkies that will lock you up for any transgression. So dudes in here wonder and speculate what NBA stars are built like that. Well, I did a little survey and this is what I came up with. Let me introduce the world to the All-NBA prison basketball team. Nominated and voted by convicts and for convicts. Basically these are the guys in the League that could handle playing prison ball where there are no multi-million dollar salaries, endorsement opportunities, special treatment, national television, or prima donnas. Dudes in here play for the love of the game, but with the added risk that any little flare up could lead to a shank in the back. That's just how it goes. The following are NBA players that prisoners think could cut it in their world and survive on the court and on the pound. STARTING FIVE - Allen Iverson is one of the most admired and respected players in prisons nationwide and is definitely the starting shooting guard for the All-NBA prison team. Like my man Smoke says, "He got that hood mentality." Sharn, a convict from Ohio takes it a step further. "AI is a street kid," he says. "He knows how to handle himself." People here think Iverson is a go-hard type of dude and that he has the street attitude it takes to survive and thrive in prison. Like Wild Bill says, "AI is like the average dude in here but with a hell of a b-ball game." And that sums it up. Not only is Iverson the starting shooting guard, but he is also the captain of the team. - Ron Artest from the Indiana Pacers is the starting small forward and defensive specialist. He goes hard on the court. That is what dudes in here respect. You gotta lay some wood, you heard. And DJ was stressing H-A-R-D. Hard like Wayne Perry, the notorious DC hitman who is serving consecutive life sentences in the feds. The Ohio cat Sharn concurs, "Artest is a beast." That's what it takes in here. You gotta be vicious. - The point guard got to be vocal. A take charge, no-bullshit, won't-back-down-from-anybody type of player. Prison ain't no place for the timid. Melo from Detroit rock city tells me, "Gary Payton runs the point, of course. He got the hot D and the trash talk." Sharn agrees that The Glove is the man to push the rock. "He's gonna talk cash shit the whole game. He's your man." The prison crowd would love him. He'd drive them bananas. - For the power spots there's only two players who could get the job done. At power forward Rasheed Wallace is the overwhelming choice. "Rasheed don't back down from nobody," Wild Bill says. Smoke agrees. "He got that go hard mentality. He don't give a fuck." Melo adds, "He's a physical dude." And scary too. With Rasheed, you just don't know what you're gonna get and that quality would keep dudes in check because ain't nobody trying a crazy dude. - At center you just know it's gotta be the Diesel. As in Shaq Diesel. "Shaq plays like an animal," Choke says. Wild Bill gives the Diesel props also. "He's unstoppable wherever he's at." So that rounds out the starting five. And a formidable and combustible unit it is. THE BENCH Now for the bench. Rafer Alston gets the nod because of his entertainment value. And dudes in here don't want Rafer, they want Skip to My Lou. They want to see some And1 up in here. "He from the streets," Smoke says. "Grew up playing streetball. Jail ball ain't nothing but another form of streetball, so Skip would be straight." Sam Cassell gets the nod also. Choke says, "He from the hood. He go hard. Represent for B-More, yo." So that qualifies him to back up The Glove. Jalen Rose from the Fab Five and originator of the baggy shorts, streetball look gets a nod also. Booker gives Jalen his props. "Jalen from the streets," he says. So most definitely he could survive in the belly of the beast. The last two substitutes are for different reasons. The first would have to be dragged out of retirement, but he ain't doing nothing anyhow. A little prison ball would do him good. "Dennis Rodman would be in my top five in prison," says Jamal. And KB8 would be the last member of the team because, like Wild Bill says, "we might just see Kobe balling in jail." So that's the team. The All-NBA prison ball team. I'm sure none of the players feel proud to be nominated to this team. But they should. It's an honor to be recognized by the thugs, gangsta, and four corner hustlers that populate the feds. Remember these guys doing time are the ones that all those studio gangsta in the hip-hop world are rapping about. The players named above are street certified. And anyway when it comes down to it, concerning dudes from the NBA, it's like my man Smoke says, "a lot of them jokers can't even come to jail." Seth M. Ferranti is the inmate number 18205-083 at FCI Gilmer in West Virginia and a regular contributor to HoopsHype.com. He was previously at the Fairton prison Tell us what you think about this article. E-mail us at HoopsHype@HoopsHype.com _____________________ |
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Has been incarcerated since October 1, 1993.