Who here has heard about Earl Manigault? It's said that he was the greatest basketball player never to make the big time. Kareem Abdul Jabar called him the best he'd ever played against and that includes Wilt The Stilt, Dr. J, Connie Hawkins, and long list of other greats.

The HBO movie "Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault" may have been one of the most interesting movies I've ever seen. Right after watching it I went out and bought The City Game, a book about Harlem street basketball and all the greats that grew up playing on the NYC courts.

It was said that Manigault used to win money on the courts by betting people he could snatch coins and bills from the top of the backboard, doing "double" dunks where he would dunk with one hand then catch it and dunk it with the other on one jump without touching the rim. He once did 36 reverse dunks in a row to win a $60 bet. He grew up playing in Rucker Park and, at the time, was the only high school player ever to play in the Rucker Pro Tournament. I'm not sure if that still stands, however.



Here's a partial list of players that were well known growing up playing at Rucker Park before they ever became famous as pro players:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Rafer "Skip to my Lou" Alston
Kenny Anderson
Nate "Tiny" Archibald
Sylvester Blye
Wilt Chamberlain
Julius "Dr. J" Erving
Connie Hawkins
Jumpin Jackie Jackson
Jamal Mashburn
Earl "The Pearl" Monroe
Chris Mullin
Lance Stephenson
Jamaal Tinsley
Satch Sanders
Pee Wee Kirkland

Yes, the original GOAT. Not like the "goats" on the OC.

He was featured on something else back in the day too.

gerb131;1199103 wrote:He was featured on something else back in the day too.

On what?

Steel Valley Football;1199165 wrote:On what?

It was another documentary.

Great movie! One of the best sports movies ever made, imo.

gerb131;1199170 wrote:It was another documentary.

I think I know what you mean. I think there was a TNT documentary a few years ago. I saw it mentioned when I was looking up stuff about him. Maybe TNT or another channel.

se-alum;1199187 wrote:Great movie! One of the best sports movies ever made, imo.

I agree. The scenes where young Goat plays for the first time w the pros in the park that are on their off-season. Then the scene at the Pro Tournament...both are great.

Great movie.

I saw a documentary about him around 10-15 years ago.

I also read a book in our library in high school about New York City playground legends and rules, but can't remember the title. I don't remember if he was mentioned in that book or not, but it had a lot of different playgrounds listed, their rules, their "bad spots", type of competition, etc..

Steel Valley Football;1199277 wrote:I think I know what you mean. I think there was a TNT documentary a few years ago. I saw it mentioned when I was looking up stuff about him. Maybe TNT or another channel.

I think it was a made for TV type documentary but it's been a good bit.