Ball Side Middle

“From the period of 1974-86, Brooklyn, by all versions and visions, was considered the world’s epicenter of basketball. During this time, we produced some of the top high school teams in the country.

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Brooklyn’s greatest accomplishment during this cross-over decade was the 32 players who made NBA teams. With all of this success, history somehow skipped over that outstanding era. There was very little film documentation of this rousing realization.

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As someone who played and was intimately involved during this era, I fervently feel now the time is ripe to transmit the story. A story crammed with challenges and adversity young black males confronted. A story about how the gift of basketball existed for all to seize, and how it shielded many from drugs, gangs, racism and socio-economic environments designed for us to fail. 

Ball Side Middle is a drill learned by many of us in Brooklyn, in my case, St. John’s Recreational Center. It metaphorically describes how the ball saved our lives. The side were our supporters. In the middle is where it remains in our core."

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Quotes of Craig Boothe from article, "A Game Grows in Brooklyn" by Peter Vecsey