The city of Memphis has long been an area saturated with talented basketball players, and community leaders and the basketball community are making strides in securing its legacy.
Amid a bustling crowd of budding stars and area residents Thursday, Memphis mayor Willie Herenton and University of Memphis basketball coach John Calipari unveiled the first of 13 outdoor basketball courts to be built or refurbished in Shelby County over the next two years.
The first court was opened yesterday in Foote Homes, located across the street from Booker T. Washington High School.
Herenton and Antonio Burks, a U of M basketball player who attended BTW high school, addressed a crowd of current BTW students, their boys’ basketball team, the media and South Memphis residents.
Calipari, Philadelphia 76er Allen Iverson and Reebok are sponsoring the program, intended to help Memphis in becoming “the basketball capital of The United States,” and serve as an aid to inner-city youth playing the game, according to Calipari.
Herenton called the courts “a first class facility where the kids can develop their talent.”
Burks, a former South Memphis resident, said it’s good to see something like this happening in the inner-city.
“It’s good for our neighborhood,” Burks said. “I love all the kids that live around here — I know most of them. They need somewhere outside where they can play.”
Burks kept his remarks short and sweet, with most of his Tiger teammates standing behind him in support. Burks said he found out on a day’s notice from Calipari that he would have to speak.
“(Calipari) just told me I would have to speak. He kind of put me on the spot,” Burks said.
Calipari also had each player on the team that didn’t have a personal workout for the day attend the event. Earl Barron, Scooter McFagdon and DeJuan Wagner highlighted the list of Tigers present. Wagner said the project is good for the inner-city.
“I grew up in a neighborhood like this,” Wagner said. “It’s good to do things like this.”
Calipari said though the project focuses on inner-city areas, there will also be courts built in the county.
Calipari also said he was pleased with the quality of the courts.
“These may be the only outside courts in the nation, or the world, with glass backboards and break away rims,” Calipari said.
Not in attendance was Allen Iverson, who was scheduled to fly into Memphis, but couldn’t make it due to surgery on Tuesday. Instead, Philadelphia 76er head coach Larry Brown came to speak on Iverson’s behalf.
“I don’t think Allen has done anything as important as what he has done today,” Brown said. “After seeing what we you all have here, I think we have to go back to Philly and do the same thing in our communities.”
