I thought New York was the Mecca, what's going on ? The world's best players are from everywhere but NYC. Guys Like Kobe, Lebron, Paul, Iverson, Dirk, Wade, Vince, Tmac. None of them are from New York ?

Can anyone explain this ? Who is the best NYC grown player in the league ?

Off the top of my head, Lamar Odom maybe.

See, those 2 guys are far from good enough to represent NYC basketball.

I was waiting for someone to mention Steph

Posted by K22:

This might help.

thats pretty cool.

btw...NY'ers don't play ball hard like that anymore...they crown kids superstars in NYC way before they are even really taught the game. It's a shame really.

DeShawn Stevenson is the next big name to come outta Brooklyn. Judging from last summer and the summer before...theres not alot of size and competition out there imho. Alot of big men flat out suck. NYC has always been a guards town but the guys out there aren't really that good.

If Marbury had his head on right, we'd be putting him right there with the Kobe's of the world. Instead, he's fallen below Jamal Tinsley and most of us would rather have Rafer Alston.

When people call New York the basketball mecca, I think it means that New Yorkers have an appreciation, knowledge and passion for the game that stands out from the rest of the country, sort of like Texans and football. It's a bigger part of our culture, it's our big high school sport, it's a big past-time/amateur sport for us. It's like how Jordan described the MSG crowd in his heyday, people not there entertained by mascots and t-shirt guns, but hardnose fans calling out to "box out" and recognize screens, and chanting the age-old mantra "DEFENSE."

All that said, the Garden fans are really losing that culture. The 90s was the last time your average Gothamite was excited about Knicks basketball. Watching the Celtics-Lakers game on TV, I saw someone holding a sign "KOBE=MVP? NOT IN THIS GARDEN" and I hung my head in shame.

And as for players, it's a big country and a big world, scouts are going to go where the 6'10" kids are. Sometimes weather & financial constraints in one area of a country will limit the type of athletes that area produces. I heard once that the Northeast is underrepresented in baseball because it's colder longer here. We'll tend to produce more pitchers because they can work on their game indoors. I'm sure that is another reason why basketball is a bigger part of our culture.

And unfortunately these days, I'd put my odds on the pro career success of a middle-class kid growing up near Bradenton, Florida surrounded by sports industry folks than a lower-class kid growing up in the NYCHA because it's not just pure talent that gets you the right coaching, training, exposure to scouts and academic ability to be eligible for college.

Al Harrington is from New Jersey, BTW.

isnt that Lance Stephenson. I think for the size Atlanta, Memphis, and Detriot produce some of the best pkayers.

Bip is from Croton.