Many people will read this heading and instantly think of the early 2000’s with the And 1 mixtapes and the current Ball up tours and just laugh at street basketball.
But back in the 60s, 70s and 80s street basketball was nothing like it is today. Many future NBA legends had to make a name for themselves on the black top courts in New York, LAa and many other states across America before they got themselves any fans.
The list of street basketball players to play in the NBA is far too long to list in this article but with the list having names like Julius Erving, Wilt Chamberlain, Earl Monroe and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar on it you know it is not to be laughed at.
Harlem, New York played host to a number of great basketball match-ups in that time. With local basketball legends controlling the courts it was always expected that professional players would come and play in the off season to test their capabilities against these brash upstart local talents.
Two of the biggest named players in that era were Earl “The GOAT” Manigault and Joe “the Destroyer” Hammond. Manigualt is regarded as the greatest basketballer not to make the NBA, while Hammond will always be the cautionary tale of what could have been.
1970 saw the legend of Joe Hammond truly take hold in New York, his local team Milbank was beating everyone and anyone at the time and they had made it to the final of the Rucker League, where they were to face off against NBA legend Julius Erving and his team made up of NBA and ABA pros, the Westsiders.
The game would play out like a sociological experiment, with the playground stars meeting up against the pros.
To some fans in attendance it would be as if their local team would be playing for an NBA championship. The Rucker Park court was packed jam tight. Fans took to the roofs of surrounding buildings, climbing the chain link fences and even hanging from trees, just to get a glimpse of the game.
Just as the game was about to begin Joe Hammond was nowhere to be found. One half of the star attraction appeared to be a no show, and without their leader Milbank they struggled while Julius Erving and the Westsiders completely dominated.
At half time it was already a double digit lead to the Westsiders and many fans in attendance felt they had been sold a dud game.
Then something happened.
Joe Hammond finally showed up for the game (he later said that he had been given the wrong start time). Climbing out of a limousine, Hammond received a hero’s welcome from the crowd. People came running from everywhere just to get a glimpse or even touch Hammond before he got onto the court.
He was a living legend to these people, and with his arrival they had all found hope that this game would be different in the second half.
Hammond got into his game clothes and entered into the fray almost instantly. NBA guard Charlie Scott was the first to guard the Destroyer, but that lasted just three possessions as Hammond scored on all three trips.
Another NBA vet in Brian Taylor took over the duties but again he was no match, then the moment the entire crowd was waiting for happened, Julius Erving would start defending Joe Hammond.
The match-up was all offence, with both trading blows like a prize boxing bout.
Julius Erving and his Westsiders would eventually prevail but the matchup between Hammond and Erving was all that mattered that day.
In just one half of basketball The Destroyer scored 50 points while Dr J only had 39 in a full game, Hammond took home the MVP trophy of the game. After the game Julius Erving found saying to his foe that everything he had been told was true.
Funnily enough, the 50 in a half against Erving may not actually be the best game the Destroyer ever played at the Rucker, with records showing he also had a 74 point game earlier on. The only player to get close to that record was current NBA superstar Kevin Durant, who scored 66 in 2011 during a summer game there.
The following NBA draft after that match-up in Rucker Joe Hammond was offered a contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, a contract which he turned down. Yes, he turned down a contract with a Lakers team at a time when they had Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor.
The reasoning was simple. He felt he could beat all three of those players, and considering they were all on $200,000 a year contracts his offer of $50,000 was far too small. Joe Hammond had said that at the time of the contract offer he had over $200,000 in his apartment thanks to dealing Heroin and Marijuana, so why would he need $50,000.
Was he ever intrigued by the thought of playing on the same team with star players like Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor?
“At that time, I owned a nightclub, two fancy cars, three apartments, and a house,” he said, recalling his arrogance.
“I thought I was a star player.”
The head coach of the ABA’s New York Nets Lou Carnesecca also tried to sign Joe to a contract to play for the Nets, but due to the image that the ABA had at the time Joe refused to sign it despite giving him everything (other than the money) that the Lakers contract would not give him.
After the contract debacle with the Lakers and the refusal to sign the Nets contract, Hammond lost interest in wanting to become a professional athlete and went back to the streets to his easy money.
Unfortunately for the talented player he was consumed by the streets, eventually becoming an addict which would ultimately land him in prison.
Joe Hammond turning down the Lakers offer back in 1971 will forever go down as one of the what could have been stories that plague sport all the time.
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