This Durant guy happens to be one of my favorite NBA players. Watching him expand his game and shoulders to encompass new roles – OKC team leader and now the face of Team USA in the FIBA World Championship – has been refreshing because there’s a humbleness about him that’s unapparent in other star athletes. Read the rest of this entry »

Rise and give honor to Nike for continuously owning my paychecks for years. It’s overwhelming when I go to do these recaps of events of this magnitude. Most of the World Basketball Festival’s larger spectacles — the televised match-up between USA & France at Madison Square Garden, Team USA’s intersquad game on a custom stage at Radio City followed by Jay-Z’s performance, the screening of Air Force 1: Anatomy Of An Urban Legend at The Apollo — all go without adjectives to describe how once-in-a-lifetime they feel in the moment. Read the rest of this entry »

Filthy Rich Barbershop’s tent was set up far back behind the courts, adding a full-on urban touch to Nike’s takeover of Rucker Park for last week’s WBF. Weird as well but I guess to me only because their barbers stayed busy with clippers abuzz for the duration of the Festival.

One of those getting a ‘cut was my PNC for last week, Nick Schonberger, columnist for Selectism & High Snobiety. Read the rest of this entry »

Gotty™ isn’t the only one hobknobbing (||) with Nike these days. For the Staten Island rendition of the 1LOVE series, the House of Hoops decided to feature my brother from another, more Italian mother, Emilio Sparks. Read the rest of this entry »

OED and I spoke via Twitter yesterday morning and I mentioned to him that words aren’t going to rightly capture all of the activity buzzin’ around NYC and Nike’s WBF. Not even pics will convey the full effect, but I’m going to start sorting through the hundreds I’ve taken in order to help tell the story. But there’s just this nagging time factor that won’t allow for me to sit for very long and chop up a full recap.

Just know that today Kobe stepped into the Rucker. He didn’t ball or field questions from the media. Instead, he spent his time there helping to lead a community-based Chainlink Fundamentals Clinic Read the rest of this entry »

– Bun B got y’all talking in an effort to win his Trill discography… and once again when Trill O.G. went under the microscope.

– Someone bonked Bieber in the dome with a bottle. Please find a bottle of Belvedere© and point them in B. Pumper’s direction. Read the rest of this entry »

My feet have seen blocks and miles. My eyes have engaged in a battle of attrition, attempting to take in all the tall buildings and athletes. Nike’s vision for the World Basketball Festival has come to fruition, whirling caravans of journalists, photographers and bloggers around NYC.

My pics from yesterday are stored on my other camera, and I’ll access them later, but here’s a couple from yesterday’s media event at Radio City Music Hall, which included the full 2010 squad, and luminaries from Nike and USA Basketball. Below, there’s also footage of Jay’s full performance from last night. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m here for Nike’s World Basketball Festival so I’ll be @ Radio City Music Hall for Jay-Z’s performance. The amazing thing about seeing Hov live is that it never gets old, even though I’ve seen him live on several different occasions. The dynamic factor is the crowd’s reaction and, since we’re in NYC, this should be another experience worth telling the kids about. Read the rest of this entry »

And another one from NSW’s 1LOVE campaign, this one featuring young Gunz as viewers’ tour guide through the Bronx.

Nike Sportswear’s “1LOVE,” an ongoing Nike Sportswear experience created to celebrate the AF1 and hoops culture throughout NYC’s five boroughs. This short features Bronx native rapper Corey Gunz. Read the rest of this entry »

Cynietra

Eminem Not Happy About VMA Nomination [About]

Former NFL Players Suing EA Sports [With Leather]

Trill Classics: Bun B On Making His Key Records [Complex]

Little Fockers Hoping Dustin Hoffman Will Make It Not Sock [FilmDrunk] Read the rest of this entry »

Nike Sportswear is putting on for NYC and the upcoming World Basketball Festival. This past weekend, the Swoosh sponsored a block party with artists and performers repping the city’s different boroughs — Corey Gunz (Bronx), BMX rider Nigel Sylvester (Queens), female artist Miss Banks (Harlem), Theophilus (Brooklyn) and the friend of ours, Emilio Sparks (Staten Island). Truly, I wanted to take in the show but obviously couldn’t so I’m hoping there’s a repeat performance during the WBF. Read the rest of this entry »

Nike’s Zoom Hyperfuse (aka the shoe that Rondo rocked in the playoffs and made noteworthy by sporting a righteous green pair) will be hitting stores soon with a wide array of colorways on the horizon. In last night’s “Blue Vs. White” scrimmage, Team USA members were wearing a traditional White/Navy/Red colorway and we’ll be seeing other country-themed colors as the World Basketball Festival gets ready to crank up in less than a month. Read the rest of this entry »

Slated for August 12-14 in NYC, the world’s basketball capital is poised to be the sporting world’s center of attention, ushered by Nike and Team USA basketball. “Tradition. Love. Innovation” are the keywords applied to describe the convergence of two other trios — Converse, Jordan Brand and Nike Basketball and Madison Square Garden, The Rucker in Harlem and a custom-built court in Times Square. To a hoops fan, imagining the prospects can almost create a mental overload in excitement. Read the rest of this entry »

Larger than life banners displaying prospective members of Team USA basketball, frozen in time in the midst of signature moves. Mannequins wearing uniforms with various country names emblazoned across the chest. Basketballs strewn across the floor, bearing slogans such as “celebrating local heroes” and “embracing a better game.” And tables of bold, brightly-colored sneakers.

Sneakers strategically positioned on metal tables, hoisted on wall displays and beckoning curious eyes to touch them. Several rooms dedicated to showcasing Nike’s latest offerings in style and footwear technology. While there was tons of information shared and plenty of people on hand to disseminate it, the sneakers were the main draw for me at Nike’s World Basketball Festival media event. The whole Festival introduction experience was astonishing, but being a part of the unveiling of select models of kicks had to be the most striking. Read the rest of this entry »

For the past three days, I’ve been hunkered down in Manhattan, immersed in Nike Basketball’s media event to announce their creation of the World Basketball Festival in partnership with USA Basketball. From new sneakers, to plans to takeover NYC hoops this summer (sorry LBJ), the partnership’s ultimate goal is to use the sport to foster a global impact on communities.

Once I get situated, I’ll share a full disclosure of all that I saw and heard. Until then, check the full press release by clicking here. Read the rest of this entry »