Inside the Cage
A Season at West 4th Street's Legendary Tournament
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The most popular outdoor basketball court in New York City is half the regulation size, offers no seating, and has sidelines bounded by a chain-link fence—but the summer league on West 4th Street in Greenwich Village has developed its share of stars and has become known throughout the world for another reason: Here, the only thing that matters is the game.
Inside the Cage follows the West 4th Street's summer league through a single season, chronicling its legendary history along the way. From 1970s playground legend Fly Williams to NBA veteran Anthony Mason and L.A. Lakers guard Smush Parker, three generations of players have mastered their game at West 4th Street. And the Cage itself—located in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in America and frequented by men from the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Harlem—proves that talent can flourish even in the most unlikely places.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Wedged into a corner of the intersection at West 4th Street and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan's Greenwich Village is a tiny basketball court surrounded by a 20-foot-high fence, known as the Cage. Although ramshackle in appearance, it's one of the world's best-known courts, attracting international scouts to scope out the talent who play there each summer in the intense, emotional West 4th Street Tournament. Martindale chronicles the competition's history and its 25th season (in 2002). It's an exciting though hardly dispassionate tale, as the former Wall Street moneyman is also one of the tournament's managing directors. While the book spends a good amount of time profiling the hotshots who come to play, it's far more engaging when discussing the stalwart old-timers like Moneybags, the homeless scorekeeper, and the instant-nickname-bestowing announcer, Dee Foreman who run the often rambunctious games. Chief among them is the event's founder, Kenny Graham, a limo driver with an entrepreneurial streak, a pillar of the community and the book's most fascinating character. Though Martindale has a preachy attitude and a penchant for inappropriate literary references, he is a vivid portraitist, bringing readers inside the pulsing heart of this urban phenomenon.
