Knicks Memories: When Anthony, Marbury's Battle With LeBron, Shaq Went Dark
Carmelo Anthony, Jamal Crawford, Stephon Marbury, and Amar'e Stoudemire nearly made their New York City basketball debuts on a warm August evening two decades ago.
Software issues, fallen trees, human error, and more in a power station in Ohio, however, forced New York Knicks fans and more to be a little more patient.
On Aug. 14, 2003, rappers Jay-Z and Fat Joe, engaged in a hip-hop-based rivalry, were set to host a basketball game with some of the best present and future players in the NBA at the famous Rucker Park in New York City, about 25 minutes away from the Knicks' home of Madison Square Garden. Rucker Park has been hallowed ground for "streetball" players and observers alike, as NBA legends like Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Wilt Chamberlain, among countless others, built part of their legacy in Harlem, at 155th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard.
However, a massive blackout across the Northeast, said to have originated in Ohio, plunged the city that never sleeps into darkness and prevented the nighttime game from happening as the lights never turned on. It has since gone down as the widest-spread blackout in U.S. history.
Full power was restored to the city two days later but the game that could've been was lost to the imagination. Slam magazine dubbed the canceled event "The Greatest Game That Never Was" in 2018, nine years after Fresh Focus Sports released a documentary entitled "The Blackout," which centered around the hype and sheer basketball firepower on display.
The full documentary is available to stream on Amazon Prime.
At the time, Anthony, five years away from donning a Knicks jersey for the first time, was fresh off his collegiate heroics for Syracuse at the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, was set to secretly rep "Team Terror Squad" alongside fellow future Knick Stephon Marbury, who was then stationed with the Phoenix Suns. Rounding out Fat Joe's supposed starting five were active All-Stars Allen Iverson (Philadelphia), Jermaine O'Neal (Indiana), and Yao Ming (Houston).
"I was going to play with Fat Joe and the Terror Squad," Anthony said in "The Blackout" trailer. "We were supposed to play against Jay-Z and then the blackout happened."
Fat Joe told Boardroom's Ian Stonebrook in 2021 that he made it a priority to get Anthony on his team when Jay-Z lured fellow rookie and high school phenom LeBron James, Cleveland's newly-minted No. 1 pick. "Team S. Carter" also featured another future Knick in Jamal Crawford in his five as well as Lamar Odom (Miami) and high school standout and future first-round pick Sebastian Telfair.
“Carmelo Anthony wanted to come because LeBron James was on Jay-Z’s team,” Fat Joe said. “They wanted to get at it.”
Jay-Z also planned to counter the literally-rising talent Yao with a surprise appearance from Shaquille O'Neal, who was personally flown to New York by the rapper's private transportation. Stoudemire, Tracy McGrady, Chris Webber, and several other NBA stars were also in attendance, potentially coming off the bench for either team.
The ensuing darkness, however, forced all that basketball firepower to the busses. Jay-Z said that he had to leave that night and wouldn't be there if they rescheduled the game. In a 2016 radio interview with artist Lord Sear, Fat Joe recalled that Jay-Z even attempted to use his bus and other vehicles to light up the court but local police shut the idea before it could gain any traction.
The lights came back on the following morning, but it was too late to salvage any sort of tip-off. Several attempts were made to reschedule, including a potential September showdown at Madison Square Garden, but each fell through.
Twenty years later, all one player involved in the game (James) has retired from the NBA, taking endlessly packed resumes with them. Fat Joe and Jay-Z have long since buried their hatchets. One question continues to linger among the would-be participants ... what could've happened in a street game for the ages?
“That," a wistful Crawford recalled to Boardroom, "would have been the craziest outdoor game ever."
You can follow Hunter De Siver on Twitter @HunterDeSiver.
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