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The idea: partner up with other league
directors that operate out of the other (at
timeS, competing) parks in other
boroughs to create a united league for
the youth. If you know the summer hoops
scene in NYC, then you know how
difficult of an ask this was.
Each borough has its own unique
playground culture. Each individual park
does, for that matter. It’s a touchy subject
that involves a lot of pride for all
participating parties. And here was Nike
proposing that each league put their
individual interests aside, and for some,
any competitive differences as well, and
instead band together to create what is
today known as the NYvsNY league.
“When I first heard about NYvsNY,
I honestly thought it wasn’t going to work
because of all the different ballplayers,
coaches, along with
the different tournament directors
and communities. I just didn’t think
it was all going to come together,” recalls
Kenny Stevens, the founder of the
Dyckman Basketball Tournament, one of
the participating leagues.
“When they first presented it to us,
everybody had reservations. Like, I don’t
know. I just don’t know.
“So they brought all the tournament
directors together and they said, ‘Hey, we
want to try something new for New York
City.’ When they brought us together they
talked about not having the top ballplay-
ers but the second-tier ballplayers—be-
cause the top ball players are out on the
Live Period. So the tournament directors
said, ‘Hey, let’s just try it and see where it
goes.’”
Launched in 2017, the league is now
celebrating its third season this summer.
The city-wide tournament is a five-week
event that features six parks across the
Big Apple: Watson Park in the Bronx,
Tri-State in Harlem, West 4th in Lower
Manhattan, Gersh in Brooklyn, Lincoln in
Queens and Dyckman in Inwood/Upper
Manhattan. Each week games are held at
a different participating park.
It didn’t take long for the league
directors to realize that the idea
would take off and that it was clearly
here to stay. From its inception, NBA
players flocked to the local playgrounds.
Carmelo Anthony and D’Angelo Russellcross from each other sat the directors for
some of the top summer tournaments in New
York City. The room was filled with skepti-
cism after a proposal was presented to them
that—for better or worse—would change the
landscape of hoops throughout the boroughs.
For years, even decades for some, thesesame league directors had spent countless hours
building up their respective blacktop sanctuaries into
reputable hoop havens, to the point where Nike saw
value in becoming partners with them. Yet, in front
of them on this day was a Nike rep offering them a
different perspective on the outdoor summer hoops
experience.
Dyckman