Many consider it to be the Mecca of streetball and the greatest NBA legends have played there. In the heart of Harlem, Rucker Park is a place of pilgrimage for all basketball fans.
« Each one teaches one »: the motto of Rucker Park is anchored in the memory of all the basketball players, famous or not, who have trodden its pavement. Founded after the war by a sports teacher (Holcombe Rucker) to prevent young people from falling into delinquency, this playground continues to write its history.
From Dr J. to Allen Iverson
In the 1950s, basketball was a gymnasium sport, played mostly by white people. In this context, the Rucker Park project was something of an anomaly. However, it contributed to the development of streetball, a new, tougher, street-school style of basketball.
His first salesman was a teacher, or rather a doctor. In the mid-1970s, Julius Erving drew crowds of onlookers who came to watch the arabesques of the man who asked to be called « Dr. J. ». He taught students named Wilt Chamberlain and Lew Alcindor (aka Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). And the list of stars, female or male, is long: from Nancy Lieberman to Allen Iverson.
66 points for Kevin Durant
Every summer, the Rucker Tournament allows youngsters to make a name for themselves by rubbing shoulders with those who burn up the NBA floor. A certain Kevin Durant arrived unexpectedly one night in August 2011 and scored no less than 66 points in front of an army of overheated fans.
