From the Chinese Basketball Association to a streetball game at New York City’s Dyckman Park… wherever JR Smith goes, drama follows.
Back on a mid-August evening at the aforementioned Dyckman Park, Home Base Entertainment and Skull Gang Records were battling in a second-round playoff match up. For those who may be unfamiliar with the event, the Dyckman Basketball Tournament is a little something like the famed Entertainer’s Basketball Classic that takes place at Rucker Park. Both the EBC and Dyckman tournaments are annual events where various celebrities (mostly rappers and/or their record labels) compile teams and do battle on the blacktop. NBA players such as Jamaal Tinsley and Rafer Alston have been known to make regular appearances, while many others will show up periodically (Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, and Vince Carter have all played at Rucker).
Anyway, Skull Gang and Home Base were all tied up at the end of regulation. Tyreke Evans and Sundiata Gaines had already been playing for Skull Gang, and they were about to get a big boost in the form of a third NBAer. I’ll let ESPN take it from here…
…all of a sudden, a New York Knick appeared from the court’s fenced entrance with an entourage and cameras following him.
It was J.R. Smith, who came to suit up for SGR, a team he and his younger brother, Chris (also a Knick), had played for once earlier in the summer. This time, J.R. was alone on the court. Chris was on the sideline watching, along with Olympic gold-medal winner James Harden, Harlem-based rappers Jim Jones and Juelz Santana, as well as Lloyd Banks, who’s from Queens.
Smith only scored one bucket in SGR’s double-overtime win, but it was the biggest one of the night. In fact, it stopped play for a few minutes, with players, coaches and fans rushing the court and celebrating as if the game was in the books. After a rebound, Smith received the outlet pass, orchestrated his own one-man fast break and then threw himself an alley-oop off the backboard for the two-hand jam (a la Tracy McGrady in the 2002 All-Star Game).
Being that it’s 2012, a video of Smith’s dunk (and the chaos that ensued) can be seen on Youtube (via Pro Basketball Talk). Said video comes complete with a Tyreke Evans 360 layup, so enjoy!
Oh, and Skull Gang did win the game. Dipset!
