Rafer Alston has to fight the familiar feeling every time he steps into a park with a game going on in New York City. The former Cardozo star, nicknamed Skip 2 My Lou, got his start and legendary status on the streetball circuit before getting his break in the NBA.
“It hard to fight the temptation not to play again,” Alston said watching from the sidelines at the Tri-State Classic in Harlem Saturday. “Every time I come I have the urge.”
The 6-foot-2 point guard picked out all the players on the court who were out there with him. He mentioned Darren Phillip, Tyrone Grant, Mookie Thomas and Anthony Glover. Alston did grab a ball and showed off a few dribble moves following the night’s first game. Later on he went down the sideline shaking hands.
“It’s just fun coming out here and seeing everybody,” he said.
Alston still isn’t sure where people will be watching him next season. He is still a free agent, but acknowledged during the game that the Knicks didn’t have any interest in him, much to the verbal dismay of Tri-State announcer 40 Cal.
Alston, who played his college ball at Fresno State, has spent 11 seasons in the NBA after being drafted in the second round by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1998. One place he doesn’t plan on ending up is with the Miami Heat, the team he finished last season with after being bought out by the Nets.
“I like going where I can help a team,” Alston said. “I think they got all the help they need on one team. There is no way I can help them.”
He said the toughest part of his career of late has been bouncing around to teams that are rebuilding. He spent more than three seasons from 2005 to 2009 with the Houston Rockets, a perennial playoff squad at the time, before being traded to Orlando to finish the 2009 season and made it to the NBA Finals, only to lose to the Los Angeles Lakers. His finest year came in 2004-05 in Toronto. He averaged 14.2 points per game and 6.4 assists.
“You built your legacy to where you are always going to teams to help them become a contender, now you are going to teams that are rebuilding. That’s the most difficult thing,” said Alston, who coaches with the NY Panthers AAU team.
No matter what team he is on his significance to streetball never changes and his highlight reel moves and performances live on. Alston’s story is one many of the players on the floor today are striving to follow.
“I’m living proof that someone can make it from here,” Alston said. “It’s about coming back and showing them and telling them that with hard work that you can make it.”