BALL

HOOK MITCHELL

FRESH KICKS

WARRIORS

“...he can jump over a building”

Featuring NIKE & ADIDAS

Welcome to the Golden State Harrison Barnes

For more information

fidm.edu

BALLCreative Director-Henson Garcia

Publisher-Dennis Page

Senior Editor-Henson Garcia

Editor-in-Chief-Henson Garcia

Research Director-Henson Garcia

Photo Editor-Henson Garcia

Editors Note

Golden State of Mind

Fresh Kickz

tHook Mitchell

Still Got It

Infographic

35

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ballTABLE OF CONTENTS

The term Ball is a call to action that all basketball players use. Our title allows readers to relate to our magazine immedi-ately by inviting them to read and absorb our content to expand their basketball knowledge. Unlike any other magazine out there, we cover a wide spectrum of aspects of the game that showcases specific areas within the bay area. Narrowing down our target market to ballers around the SF Bay Area allows us to have a more personal relationship with our readers. This enables us to provide them with information that they can relate to on several levels. The Bay Area is filled with ballers of all skill levels that need a resource to inform them on where to ball, the history of the game and certain venues, what gear to wear, and how to improve their game. Unlike a majority of the basketball magazines out there, Ball is loyal to the Bay Area and will showcase all it has to offer to aspiring ballers. Ball discusses basketball related topics for those who love to ball, no matter their familiarity, around our

beautiful home. We will highlight great places to ball, the history of significant venues, parks and/or icons from the area, ballin’ tips, and the freshest gear currently available. We will display our content with unique and fresh designs that will keep our viewers’ intrigued and entertained. The information content will be concise and to the point. Our goal is to keep our readers up-to-date on all aspects of ballin’, as well as inform them on some history of the game. By unleashing this magazine we hope to increase the productivity of ballers out there as well as enable individuals that never played to pick up a ball and start playing at their nearest court. We also hope that this magazine will increase the comradery within the ballin’ community in the Bay Area. This magazine can be a stepping-stone to finding a group of ballers in your town that will improve your knowledge of the game and cause your skills to inevitably im-prove. We encourage our readers to spread the word and invite their friends to a good read. And once you are finished replenishing your basketball knowledge get out there and ball!

EDITOR’S NOTE

3 - editor’s note

UTILIZE YOUR CREATIVITY

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Golden State of Mind

Strengths:* Length* Unafraid to launch clutch shots* Pull-up jumper* Catch-and-shoot 3* Good rebounder* Solid defender* Strong work ethic

Weaknesses:* Has to get bigger and stronger* Needs to continue to work on scoring off the bounce

NBA projection:Those who know Barnes best think he has the tools and work ethic to be an NBA all-star. He’s a terrific scorer on the perimeter and at the rim (offensive re-bounds) and needs only to work on his dribble-drive game, some-thing he tried to force at times during his sophomore season.

2011-12 Season:Barnes earned first-team All-ACC and second-team All-America (NABC) honors after leading the Tar Heels in scoring. He went through some dry spells from the perimeter, but he was also more than capable of taking — and making — big shots.

Key statistics:17.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.1 apg, 2.2 tpg, 1.1 spg, 29.2 mpg, .440 FG, .358 3PT, .723 FT

Cool statistic:Barnes is one of just six players in North Carolina history to average at least 15 points as a freshman and sophomore, joining Phil Ford, Antawn Jamison, Joseph Forte, Rashad McCants and Tyler Hansbrough).

Reminds me of:Glen Rice

What Insiders Say:North Carolina point guard Kend-all Marshall“I think Harrison’s becoming the player that everybody tried to make him out to be a year and a half ago. That’s not to insult his game at all. Sometimes players just have to grow into that. I think he’s done a great job of adjusting to the role. He is one of our main go-to guys.”

What Outsiders Say:Former Ohio (now Illinois) coach John Groce“Obviously Barnes is a terrific

player and he made some big plays for their team late in regula-tion and in the overtime. We just tried to battle him and compete, to be honest with you. We had some of our better defenders on him as well. Offutt’s a terrific defender, Johnson’s a great de-fender, and Hall has gotten better and is 6-6 and has some size. But he’s a tough cover because he can score such a variety of ways.”Creighton coach Greg McDermott“Harrison’s responsible for a lot of [son] Doug’s development because Doug saw in Harrison a guy with an unbelievable work ethic. And when other high school aged students were going to movies and going to football games and going to the prom, Harrison was working out. And I really believe that Doug saw in

Harrison a guy that he wanted to emulate and saw the improve-ment and said, you know what, I think that I now know what it takes. He could listen to his dad and his high school coach, but when you see it in Harrison, the improvement he made each year of high school because of his work ethic, it was certainly impactful for Doug.”

For more information about the Golden State Warriors, visit: www.goldenstatewarriors.com

5-golden state of mind

Today a lot of basketball shoes are sold primarily because of the brand that makes them or the NBA player that wears them. This is fine for those who want to

make a fashion statement, but what about the serious hoops player who wants an equally seri-ous basketball shoe that will work for them?

FRESH KICKS

Nike JordanSpecial EditionCustom designAvailable at se-lect Footlockers$100

Nike Kevin DurantBrand new designAvailable at all shoe stores$100

AdidasDerrick RoseSignature EditionAvailable at all FinishLine stores$100

NikeCustom DesignAnonymous artistLimited supplyAvailable at Nike Store in SF$100

To find all of your favorite shoe designs, visit these websites: www.nike.com www.adidas.com www.eastbay.com www.gotkickz.com

For more information about the Golden State Warriors, visit: www.goldenstatewarriors.com

Fresh Kickz-6

HOOK MITCHELL

7-Feature : Hook Mitchell

At 5’9”, he built his legendary street status by jumping over the top of a Volkswag-on and slam dunking a basketball. As NBA superstar Jason Kidd puts it, “he could jump over a building.”Gary Payton, another NBA superstar and childhood friend asserts, “he was better than me, he was better than Jason (Kidd), Antonio (Davis), he was better than everybody.”But while Hook’s childhood friends, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Antonio Davis, Brian Shaw, J.R. Rider and Greg Foster all ended up playing basketball in the NBA, Hook ended up incarcerated.

From the drug and crime infested streets of West Oakland to the California Men’s Penal Colony, Hook made all the wrong choices.The story of how “Hook” wound up incar-cerated, while the buddies he grew up with skyrocketed to superstardom with multi-million dollar salaries, is told in this poignant tale of a life gone wrong.“Hook” Mitchell is the greatest basketball player to never make it to the NBA.

Demetrius Mitchell, who, at 5-feet-10, built his legendary playground status because of his amazing hops that enabled him to dunk

“...he was better than everybody.”

Hook Mitchell -8

360 dunks over a late model honda accord car. Milwaukee Bucks forward Drew Good-en credits Demetrius with the feat of a 360 degree dunk over a car. Mitchell says his best dunk ever was a backboard-shattering dunk off an alley oop. The “Hook” says that he has been playing above the rim since he was 5’3”, but didn’t dunk in organized games until the height of 5’5. He played one season for Merritt College and one season at Contra Costa Col-lege intercollegiate squads and two years at California State University, East Bay (Formerly known as California State Hayward University during this time). The playground basketball star’s descent into drugs and crime, however, destroyed any chance he had of becoming a professional athlete.

Demetrius Mitchell, known as Waliy Abdur Rahim since his conversion to Islam, in prison, where he describes his rough upbringing on the streets of Oakland, and his struggle to survive. The filmmakers also interview several NBA stars who also grew up in Oakland, including Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Antonio Davis, Drew Gooden, and Brian Shaw, all of whom played with Mitchell on the streets, and were astonished by his skills, but were unable to help him avoid his sorry fate. They describe his unstable home life and the longing for community that drove him to the streets. Mitchell himself is shown playing prison league games, and is surprisingly still able to play above the rim.

Mitchell was released from prison on April 4, 2004. He had served 51 months in prison after being charged with an armed robbery at a Blockbuster store. He went to training camp with the Golden State Warriors but was cut. Most notably, he did a photo shoot for Dime Magazine. He signed a contract with Reebok and his biography is out on video and DVD. He is also said to have joined the YPA (Young

9-Feature : Hook Mitchell

Players Association) mixtape squad. Deme-trius is the coach and founder of the Oakland Mountain Dew Xtreme, a well known AAU basketball team in California.If you grew up playing basketball in the Bay Area in the late 1980s, you knew about Hook Mitchell. You might not have known his first name -- it’s Demetrius -- or perhaps even his last. But you knew Hook.A 5-foot-11 guard -- though some say he was 5-9, the better to inflate his legend -- he

starred for McClymonds High during the glory years of the Oakland Athletic League. As good as he was in high school, though, Hook was better known for his feats on the playgrounds. Jumping over cars. Jumping over bikes on top of cars (or so it was said). Doing 360s from the middle of the lane. (See video at story’s end for some of his greatest hits.)The first time Hook dunked over another person, that person was a young Jason Kidd, seated in a chair. All the Oakland talent --

Hook Mitchell -10

Kidd, Gary Payton, Antonio Davis, Jeff Foster and later Drew Gooden -- looked up to Hook. As Payton says in the documentary Hooked, “He was better than me, he was better than Jason ... he was better than everybody.”As a suburban teenager growing up across the bay in Mill Valley at the time, I considered Hook to be the Loch Ness of hoops, a won-drous creature often spoken of but seldom glimpsed. One time I heard he was compet-ing at a dunk contest in San Francisco, so I got a ride out with some friends. Only Hook didn’t show. Another time there was word he was playing in a pick-up game at a city gym. Again, no luck.I lost track of Hook over the years but his story turned out to be a sad one: He got involved in drugs and never went to college, though he continued playing in the parks. In 1999, he was arrested for robbing a video store in

Oakland and spent nearly five years in prison. When he got out, at 35, he was still good enough to receive a training camp invite from the Golden State Warriors. He didn’t make the team.He was still an icon though, at least in the Bay Area. So it came as a pleasant surprise when, this past winter, he showed up to join a rec league team I play on in Berkeley. We were down a couple guys and Duff Reiter, our coach, called me one Wednesday afternoon. I wasn’t feeling well, and was unsure if I’d make the game. “We picked up a new guy,” Reiter said. “You ever heard of Hook Mitchell?”Needless to say, I suddenly felt a lot better.That night, we gathered at James Kenney Rec Center in West Berkeley prior to our 8 p.m. game. Not long after, Hook ambled in. At 39, he’s still remarkably fit. He has a boxer’s build, with a thick neck and a wide torso covered with slabs of muscle. He wore his hair in corn rows that grayed at the edges, and has one of those dramatic, instantly placeable faces, blockish, with protruding ears and deep lines. He rarely smiled, but when he did you could see his front teeth were missing.When he entered the gym, heads immediately turned. “Hook’s here, Hook’s here,” people whispered, and it reminded me of how the kids on The Wire always murmur when Omar comes around.Hook was humble and laconic. “Pleased to meet you,” he said upon introductions. We started our layup lines and I think all of us were curious how much he had left in the tank. After all, he was 39 and even the greatest leapers -- especially ones as short as Hook -- usually start to lose their jumping ability in their early to mid-30s. I couldn’t tell whether he was trying or not, but he went up leisurely for one dunk and missed it. Maybe he was done.It wasn’t until late in the first half that it

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11- Hook Mitchell

happened. There was a steal and then a fast break. Hook got back on defense, running just behind an opposing player as he went up for a layup. Hook planted off two feet and, in a violent motion, shot upwards. I’ve never seen someone jump so quickly or powerfully. He pinned the ball high on the backboard, somewhere up in the square. His elbow was probably near the level of the rim. The gym went nuts. No one cared that the ref called a foul.Later, in the second half, Hook tried to follow dunk over two 6-5 guys. He was unsuc-cessful, but only because he ran into human impediment, not for lack of elevation. Later, Reiter told me that he’d coached a team with Hook the previous Friday night and that Hook had done the same thing, only he’d made the dunk.It was an energizing night, watching a legend in action -- hell, playing alongside one. It was also, to a certain degree, inspiring. If after spending two decades bouncing around on concrete and asphalt, Hook could still get up like that, maybe there was a hardwood foun-tain of youth for the rest of us. Then again, considering what else Hook had been doing for those 20 years, maybe I didn’t want to know what that fountain contained.We won the game handily and walked out of the gym. Hook went one way and some of us went another. It was amazing to think: here we were, a bunch of weekend warriors, team-mates with Hook Mitchell. Then again, more tellingly, here was Hook Mitchell, teammates with us.At 5’9”, he built his legendary street status by jumping over the top of a Volkswagon and slam dunking a basketball. As NBA superstar Jason Kidd puts it, “he could jump over a building.”Gary Payton, another NBA superstar and childhood friend asserts, “he was better than

me, he was better than Jason (Kidd), Antonio (Davis), he was better than everybody.”But while Hook’s childhood friends, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Antonio Davis, Brian Shaw, J.R. Rider and Greg Foster all ended up playing basketball in the NBA, Hook ended up incarcerated.From the drug and crime infested streets of West Oakland to the California Men’s Penal Colony, Hook made all the wrong choices.The story of how “Hook” wound up incar-cerated, while the buddies he grew up with skyrocketed to superstardom with multi-million dollar salaries, is told in this poignant tale of a life gone wrong.“Hook” Mitchell is the greatest basketball player to never make it to the NBA.

Demetrius Mitchell, who, at 5-feet-10, built his legendary playground status because of his amazing hops that enabled him to dunk

Hook Mitchell -12

360 dunks over a late model honda accord car. Milwaukee Bucks forward Drew Good-en credits Demetrius with the feat of a 360 degree dunk over a car. Mitchell says his best dunk ever was a backboard-shattering dunk off an alley oop. The “Hook” says that he has been playing above the rim since he was 5’3”, but didn’t dunk in organized games until the height of 5’5. He played one season for Merritt College and one season at Contra Costa Col-lege intercollegiate squads and two years at California State University, East Bay (Formerly known as California State Hayward University during this time). The playground basketball star’s descent into drugs and crime, however, destroyed any chance he had of becoming a professional athlete.

Demetrius Mitchell, known as Waliy Abdur Rahim since his conversion to Islam, in prison, where he describes his rough upbringing on the streets of Oakland, and his struggle to survive. The filmmakers also interview several NBA stars who also grew up in Oakland, including Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Antonio Davis, Drew Gooden, and Brian Shaw, all of whom played with Mitchell on the streets, and were astonished by his skills, but were unable to help him avoid his sorry fate. They describe his unstable home life and the longing for community that drove him to the streets. Mitchell himself is shown playing prison league games, and is surprisingly still able to play above the rim.

Mitchell was released from prison on April 4, 2004. He had served 51 months in prison after being charged with an armed robbery at a Blockbuster store. He went to training camp with the Golden State Warriors but was cut. Most notably, he did a photo shoot for Dime Magazine. He signed a contract with Reebok and his biography is out on video and DVD.

He is also said to have joined the YPA (Young Players Association) mixtape squad. Deme-trius is the coach and founder of the Oakland Mountain Dew Xtreme, a well known AAU basketball team in California.If you grew up playing basketball in the Bay Area in the late 1980s, you knew about Hook Mitchell. You might not have known his first name -- it’s Demetrius -- or perhaps even his last. But you knew Hook.A 5-foot-11 guard -- though some say he was 5-9, the better to inflate his legend -- he starred for McClymonds High during the glory years of the Oakland Athletic League. As good as he was in high school, though, Hook was better known for his feats on the playgrounds. Jumping over cars. Jumping over bikes on top of cars (or so it was said). Doing 360s from the middle of the lane. (See video at story’s end for some of his greatest hits.)The first time Hook dunked over another

Still Got It...13- photo essay : Still Got It

HAVEN’T BALLED IN A WHILE....

LET’S SEE IF WE STILL GOT A LIL GAME LEFT IN THE TANK...

Still Got It-14

WHAT TIME IS IT?

15- photo essay : Still Got It

DUNK TIME!

Still Got It-16

42 out of 144 basketball players in the olympics play in the NBA

Represents an NBA player playing for that country

17- Infographic

WE HAVE THE TEAM

WE HAVE THE FANS

WE WANT THE TROPHY

BALL

SO HARD MOTHAFUCKAS

wanna

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