World B Free Streetball

K1X had a chance to interview one of the greatest streetball and NBA legends of all-time, World B. Free. 

I know that you used to announce that you would draw a foul before you actually did it, then went to the basket and somehow got the whistle from the ref. You have to teach me that one!

(laughs) Well first of all you need a 44 inch vertical leap. And then you have to have that streetball game. So before I went to the basket I would give my defender a series of fakes and hesitation moves. If he was staying away from me I would shoot it right in his face. If he would bite on the fakes I would blow right by him. That‘s where my in between game would kick in. I could protect the basketball with my body while I was in the air.

Your Brownsville streetball roots must have helped you as well.

Right. When we played out in Brooklyn there was a pole on our basket. And you had to know how to avoid that pole. I ran into it a couple of times and I realized that up to this day that pole did not move. You had to learn how to control your body while you were in the air and when you were landing. That was definitely helpful for me.

Can you take us back to Brownsville and tell us how you grew up there and how that made you the person that you are today?

Brownsville is a world of its own, as you know. You‘ve been out there, too. It‘s a place that either made you or broke you. So either you were going to be someone or you wasn‘t.

I always followed a couple of guys that were older than me. And they didn‘t let me play basketball until I was in 11th or 12th grade. A lot of the guys who got out there were a lot younger than I was. I didn‘t have that great skills at that time but I had great elevation with my jumpshot. So the older guys would always teach me more about the game, beat me up, pound me on the court. They would treat me like a rookie and I would learn from that. And as I got better and better I started to teach that to the younger kids.

In Brownsville you had just one basket and the ball had no rills, it was bald as my head right now. And I was just in there, I just loved the game. It was great. You had to come out in the snow and rain and we did that. That‘s what it was all about.

What was the New York streetball scene in general like back then?

Back then, when you lost a basketball game that was it. It was all over. You might not play again until ten at night. The court was so crowded and everybody wanted to show their stuff. There were people coming from all over. We were in Brooklyn, so people from the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Staton Island came to Browsville, to a court that we called Sixty-Six Park back then, because that‘s where legends were made. And everyone wanted to go to that park to be somebody. They had the Rucker Pros up in Harlem but we had Sixty-Six Park.

Tell us who played in that park.

We had guys like Jim McMillan, Doc played there, too. We also had guys like Connie Hawkins, Nate “Tiny“ Archibald. We had some of the best players to ever play this game.

What other tournaments were there in the city besides Rucker and Sixty Six Park?

There was a tournament at St. Johns Recreation Centre that was big. But you could basically go to every basketball court in Brooklyn at that time and find that the court was full. It‘s not the same anymore. When you drive by the parks you won‘t see that many kids out there anymore.

What is your take on the whole commercialization of streetball? All the interest that the sport gathers from sponsors and the media these days.

The NBA and streetball are two totally different games. The players on the streetball courts have their own unique set of talents. But the level of attention they receive now helps some of them to get into the league. And that‘s a good thing.

What about your own quote “passes don‘t get paid“.

Uhh, I got that from Fred Carter. When I was a rookie he came to me ‘Rook, let me tell you something. In this league, passes don‘t get paid. Passes do not get paid.‘ And that stuck with me as soon as I stepped on the basketball court. It wasn‘t my own theory though. I got it from a veteran. There could be five guys open and he would still not pass it to you. (laughs)

How confident were you as a player?

As a player? Very confident. I knew that I could get my shot over anybody on the basketball court because of my jumping ability and I had ballhandling skills. I could go either left hand or right hand. I was very confident in my offensive game.

STATS: World B. Free

Position: Guard

Height: 6-2 Weight: 185 lbs.

Born: December 9, 1953 in Atlanta, Georgia

High School: Canarsie in Brooklyn, New York

College: Guilford College

Drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2nd round (5th pick, 23rd overall) of the 1975 NBA draft.

Career Average: 30,4 Minutes, 20,3 Points, 3,7 Assists

Best Season (1979-80): 30,2 Points, 4,2 Assists, 3,5 Rebounds, 47,4 % FG

All Star: 1979/80

2nd in the NBA in Scoring: 1978/79; 1979/80

Teams: Philadelphia 76ers (1975-78; 1986-87), San Diego Clippers (1978-80) Golden State Warriors (1980-82), Cleveland Cavaliers (1982-1986), Houston Rockets (1987-88)