It seems like another lifetime, back when the skinny little kid everyone called "Skip to My Lou" ruled supreme over Rucker Park in Harlem.
Crowds gathered to watch him prance and spin across the asphalt basketball court with a blurry-fast crossover dribble, an arsenal of moves that required a whole new vocabulary.
Tornado. Pepper shake. Off da' heezie.
Those people were witnessing the birth of a hoops counterculture, style over score, a Globetrotters version 2.0 that blended athleticism, entertainment and hip-hop flair.
The rise of "streetball" has spawned DVDs and video games, an ESPN series and endorsement contracts. It has made "Skip to My Lou" famous enough that, after two decades, people still recognize him.
"I'm walking down in New York City, all they know is Skip," he says.
They don't know Rafer Alston's real name, and some don't know about his greatest trick yet. All these years later, the wild kid from Rucker is 32 and a polished NBA player, a veteran point guard who has helped put the Orlando Magic into the championship series against the Lakers.
Only a few so-called playground legends have made the quantum leap from blacktop to the professional ranks. A sneaker company executive explains: "With Rafer and his alternate persona . . . we're seeing things all colliding and merging together."
As the NBA Finals continue at Staples Center tonight -- the Lakers hold a 1-0 edge -- Alston brings together disparate faces of the game, not to mention two very different groups of fans.
Making a name
Born to a tough neighborhood in Queens, with a father battling addiction, the 11-year-old boy took to riding the subway, searching the city for pickup games.
"I would do anything to stay in the playground, stay on the court," Alston said. "You know, when you're growing up below the poverty line, you can be so caught up and frustrated about where your life is."
His travels led him to hallowed ground.
Rucker Park doesn't look like much, a court painted red and green with bleachers and a chain-link fence. But it is a mecca for playground ball that has attracted NBA greats the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Nate Archibald and Julius Erving.
The Harlem court is just as well-known for cult figures such as Earl "The Goat" Manigault and Joe "The Destroyer" Hammond, whose style and verve never quite translated to the pros.
