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Shawn “Biggs” Green was steaming.
Moments after losing his Nike Battlegrounds quarter-final
match to eventual runner-up Mike Kennedy on a last-second three-pointer,
Green, 34, obviously thought he’d been the victim of a bad call.
Stomping over to where the officials sat, he rattled the mesh and stomped
around the vacated court inconsolably.
But just when things looked volatile, the reigning
King Of Kings, Phil Dixon, tapped Green on the shoulder, said a few
things and defused a potentially explosive situation.
“Biggs was upset and I just told him to chill
out,” says Dixon backstage at Toronto’s Molson Amphitheatre
June 26th after Vidal Massiah, 25, clinched the 2004 Nike Battlegrounds
King Of Kings title with a relatively easy 22-9 win over the 39-year-old
Kennedy.
The obvious perks are winning $10,000, a Nike shoe
endorsement contract, the King Of Kings chain and a refurbished basketball
court in Massiah’s name to be constructed in his Eastern Commerce
neighbourhood. But as rap artist, actor and event producer Shawn “Singlefoot”
Singleton notes, the ultimate honour is being recognized by your peers.
“This is all about ‘me, myself, I’. The financial rewards
are cool but you can’t put a price on being the best of the best.”
Massiah proved to be a worthy champion. He was never
really tested, blasting Kevin Curran 20-8 in the quarter-finals and
Mike Schmidt 23-17 in the semis before overpowering an obviously exhausted
Kennedy in the final.
“This will pay some bills,” enthused Massiah
as his mother and friends mobbed him. “I was practising for a couple
of hours this afternoon and I felt quite tired but I got stronger as
the games progressed”.
Massiah has played pro ball in Portugal and Israel
but says it’s the first time he’s ever won anything substantial
in Toronto. He would later parlay his victory into a spot on Canada’s
national team, which just completed a tour of China with a 2-2 win-loss
record.
A spirit of goodwill permeates the backstage area
where players, hip hop artists and friends hang out, cheer the winners
and feed off the event’s positive vibe.
“Obviously, Battlegrounds is a great event for
us, but the primary objective is to create the sickest one-on-one tournament
in the country,” boasts Charles Yearwood, Nike’s brand initiatives
manager. “We’ve had one year under our belt, we started out
at Trinity-Bellwood Park, and now we’re at the Amphitheatre; great
sight-lines for the fans, great music and a sense of a real event for
the players.”
Battlegrounds originated at two regional tournaments
in Los Angeles and New York two years ago; last year it was expanded
to include six regional finalists (including one from Toronto), plus
the previous two winners. The format is simple: games last eight minutes
or until one player scores 22 points. It’s a straight knockout
with 32 of Toronto’s elite street players vying for the King Of
Kings crown. This year there was only a GTA competition (the US winners
toured Europe), and plans are to keep the tournament in Canada and expand
it to other Canadian cities, including Montreal and Vancouver.
“Yeah, there’s a great deal of goodwill
here,” notes Yearwood. “But don’t be fooled. These guys
are serious. Many have played each other since high school and they
respect each other as athletes. Some of these guys have been playing
in Europe or college ball and it gives them a chance to play in front
of their families and friends.”
Last year’s champion, Phil Dixon, 34, is a legend
in Toronto high school basketball circles who played pro ball extensively
in Europe, South America and Hong Kong before a knee injury ended his
career.
“I jumped back into the tournament last year, played, literally
won on one leg,” says Dixon who just finished a basketball camp
for 7- to 18-year-old boys and girls and is doing some personal coaching.
“It provided a fresh start for me.”
The basketball court named in Dixon’s honour
will be unveiled in the Lawrence Heights area of the city, hopefully
on Labour Day.
“Phil’s a great example of someone who has
put something back into the community,” notes Singlefoot. “When
he won last year, he had a limo available to take him downtown to the
clubs, but instead we drove the limo out to Lawrence Heights and partied
with people in the projects until five in the morning. Some of those
kids had never seen a limo before. The cops showed up and they were
totally cool.”
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