StreetBall
Homing In On treetball’ is popular game of basketball as played and enjoyed by kids in neighbourhoods around the world. It is synonymous with street culture and hip hop music in the US. Street kids in the neighbourhoods would hone their skills to perfection in order to show off to other streetballers and as a diversion against the more pressing issues of the day, which often included school, poverty and family problems. For the poor kids in the slums and ghettos, honing their basketball skills was a way to get noticed as well as possibly escaping the poverty trap. Today, the game has developed into the high point of street fashion and culture, as epitomised by streetball stars who tour the nation in exhibition games. Streetball enthusiasts or ‘streetballers’ comprising mostly of kids from the neighbourhoods would spend hours practising their basketball techniques and at the same time build camaraderie, kill time and avoid getting themselves involved in harmful activities like drugs and crime. These streetball enthusiasts would form their own ‘crews’ and spend considerable effort practising and devising fanciful basketball ‘moves’ in order to be one up on the other crews in the neighbourhood. With the advent of digital and recording technology these ‘moves’ can now
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be easily captured on video and posted on the web at streetball websites where enthusiasts the world over could view them, post comments, give tips or imitate the action.
audios, they have been fantastic in terms of generating public awareness of streetball culture, bringing streetball into the public consciousness and advancing the art of the game.
Tour Of Duty
Rising Stars
AND1 was one of the early promoters of the streetball scene in the US with the AND1 Mix Tape series having developed into a national phenomenon and highly successful marketing campaign. AND1 sent out photographers and their ad agency throughout the US during summertime to scout for the best streetballers and capture their moves on video. At first distributed free to basketball players all over the country in the summer of 1999, these tapes have become a national sensation and streetball brought into the mainstream of national consciousness. It has also made a star of skilful streetballers such as Rafer ‘Skip To My Lou’ Alston. Today, streetball enthusiasts all over the world emulate AND1’s Mix Tapes Collection and shoot their own home videos documenting fanciful and sometimes insane basketball moves and trick shots. The output from these streetball aficionados have been nothing short of prolific and while these home made videos are usually amateurish, shabbily shot and edited with jerky camera movement, poor resolution and indecipherable
When the early promise of streetball culture as a highly successful marketing tool was fulfilled and other sports wear companies such as Nike and Reebok became interested, AND1 upped the ante by developing its own ‘Platinum Player’ game and put together a team of ‘professional’ and highly skilled streetballers. The team toured the nation and hosted demonstrations at local charities and youth facilities, playing often to sell out crowds. Streetball stars such as Headache, Main Event, Shane the Dribblin’ Machine all became national sensations. AND1 further tied up with vide game company Activision to develop a streetball game that featured AND1 streetballers called ‘Street Hoops’. Further tie-ups with ESPN spawned the creation of a show called ‘StreetBall: The AND1 Mix Tape Tour’ and ratings went through the roof when the first show was aired. Today, the AND1 Mix Tape Tour has become a phenomenal series, and the company is committed to keeping its focus on playground ball and hip hop, young kids that have formed the main proponents of streetball and its culture.
StreetBall
StreetBall
The Streets >> Mark Anderson reviews streetball culture, the advent of digital technology and initiatives by companies such as AND1 that have spawned highly successful marketing campaigns and propelled the game into the mainstream, garnering a worldwide cult following among youths.
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