-AND 1 team arrives for All-Star weekend
The much talke about AND 1 Streetball team arrived on Guyana’s soil for the first time yesterday to begin their stint which will highlight the annual All-Star basketball weekend.
The team arrived in Guyana from Suriname, where they also toured, and travelled to Georgetown yesterday afternoon following a brief stop at the New Amsterdam Technical Institute where they interacted with the students of that institution.
Stabroek Sport caught up with the streetball stars at the Princess Hotel yesterday where they promised a weekend of exciting and flashy basketball.
Commenting on what basketball fans should expect this weekend, Taurian Fontenette A.K.A. ‘Air up there’ and ‘Mr. 720’ said:“Expect a lot of highlights, a lot of dunks and people getting dunked on… and a lot of craziness man, you just have to show up and see.”
Fontenette is known for his jumping ability and he performed the first ever widely-documented 720-degree dunk. The ‘Air up There’ is considered by some to be one of the best dunkers ever.
The ‘Air up there’ was reluctant to disclose whether fans attending the All-Star Weekend will witness his world famous 720 dunk, but touching whether he will do the famous dunk, Fontenette said: “You never know, you got to come and watch.”
Grayson Boucher A.K.A. ‘The Professor’, who is hailed as the most recognized streetball player in the world, cited that it was a very big occasion for him to be playing in Guyana.
“Anytime that we get to spend to take the brand internationally, it’s like it’s my favorite thing, I’d rather do that than to play in the States [United States] any day,” Boucher said.
“From now until Christmas, every country we go to I’ve never been to, but I love going to new places and reaching the youth in new countries that’s like the main goal,” Boucher added.
‘The Professor’ emphasized that fans can expect the same ball handling tricks and moves that they have seen on TV and assured that they he has some new tricks up his sleeves.
“Every year your game has to graduate, you can’t be doing the same thing over and over so usually every year I come with at least two or three moves,” said Boucher.
He added: “What you see on the TV sometimes doesn’t always resonate to the person watching, it’s not always real like when you’re there, so when you see it in person it’s a much better experience.”
Meanwhile, Larry Williams A.K.A. ‘The Bone Collector’ encouraged basketball fans to come out and he stated that “Fans should expect a lot of highlights, a lot of fancy moves, I got the best cross over in the world and it’s going down. AND 1 live… the greatest show on earth.”
Some of the other AND 1 stars here for the All-Star weekend are Alonzo Miles A.K.A. ‘Showstopper’, Marvin Collins A.K.A. Highrizer”, Anthony Pimble A.K.A. ‘Africa’ and Robert Martin A.K.A. ‘ 50’.