The big boys, Nike in particular, have a near monopoly on NBA endorsement deals. The swoosh, along with adidas, also dominates the college hoops scene. So when an upstart company known as And 1 burst onto the marketplace back in the 1990s, it entered it another way — through the streets.
The company eventually embraced Rafer Alston, nicknamed "Skip To My Lou," as the embodiment of its brand. His prowess on New York City playgrounds spread throughout the country — forget that, the world — after And 1 featured him in several of its streetball mixtapes. Thursday, And 1 released a nine-plus-minute video of Alston's greatest moments on the blacktop, and it's a reminder why he's the definitive streetball player of his era.
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It's hard to qualify the magnitude of Alston's impact on the game, but consider this. And 1's mixtapes were only available on VHS in limited quantities as promotional material at select footwear outlets. But much like the audio mixtapes of New York City rappers who became international stars, such as 50 Cent, everyone wound up checking them out. I remember huddling in front a floor model TV of a high school friend who had gotten his hands on one. There had to be 10 of us. It was that serious.
With each subsequent volume, Alston's rep grew bigger as did that of many of the other ballers featured such as "Alimoe," "Half Man, Half Amazing," "Hot Sauce" and "The Professor." Alston helped spawn a reality television show, and sooner or later everyone in the game bit And 1's business model to some degree.
Let's be real.
Nike likely would have never come down off its Ivory Tower in Beaverton, Ore. to the block to produce this classic commercial had And 1 not made it's name known at the summer leagues in New York's Rucker Park.
Alston's biggest contribution to the game might be that he put the emphasis back on the point guard position.
Unlike many a legendeary streetballer, Alston made it. He played college ball at Fresno State and spent 11 years in the league, playing for the Bucks, Raptors, Heat, Magic and Nets. During a time when David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal were dominating the game, he made the crossover cooler than the monster dunk.