June 14, 2009 by Paul
Deo: He was THE Greatest Basketball Player EVER!!!
I was nicknamed Fly when I played basketball at Xavier U in
New Orleans by the NewYorker students and it stuck, I even imitated his
bow-legged walk, never has there been such imagination on the bball
court he did things players professional players cannot imagine today.
He was turly the Jimi Hendrix of Basketball. Fly's inspiration
continues through my Art today. My son is a 14yr old 6'1" point guard
and he is fascinated by the Fly stories, more on how one person can
envision AND perform those dynamic feats during a real game, and have
beautiful ladies put a fur coat on him after the game b4 they enter
their RR limo."
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May 8, 2009 by Lenny Schlein: As I write to you, I can picture Fly with his big afro. Here's the story. I am in a basketball mood. I was going to Lafayette H.S. and they were playing Fly's team ( I think it was Madison) in a big league game. Lafayette had this guy named Rickey Palmer who was about 6 ft tall, left handed with a high arching jumper and could jump to the moon. Oh yes, he also had this one gold tooth in the front of his mouth. The students would always say, take the A train with Rickey Palmer ( I think that was the train he took to get to school). Well its about a minute or so before the game and no Fly to be seen. Madison also had Ronnie Hagler who went on to play at Penn. All of a sudden the gym door opens and in walks Fly. He is wearing a white tank top shirt and his jersey is hanging out his back pocket. He sits down to take off his jeans and his game shorts are underneath his jeans. He ties his sneakers, flips on his jersey, the horn sounds and the game starts. He drops about 40 or so on us, like it was nothing. What a show. And yes Rickey Palmer was a non factor. The school had been promoting this game all week and Fly was the whole show. Brooklyn was a great place for High School basketball. Boys High , Canarsie had Lloyd Free, The King brothers Bernard than Albert. Maybe there is a book in that ?
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May 8, 2009 by Lenny Schlein: As I write to you, I can picture Fly with his big afro. Here's the story. I am in a basketball mood. I was going to Lafayette H.S. and they were playing Fly's team ( I think it was Madison) in a big league game. Lafayette had this guy named Rickey Palmer who was about 6 ft tall, left handed with a high arching jumper and could jump to the moon. Oh yes, he also had this one gold tooth in the front of his mouth. The students would always say, take the A train with Rickey Palmer ( I think that was the train he took to get to school). Well its about a minute or so before the game and no Fly to be seen. Madison also had Ronnie Hagler who went on to play at Penn. All of a sudden the gym door opens and in walks Fly. He is wearing a white tank top shirt and his jersey is hanging out his back pocket. He sits down to take off his jeans and his game shorts are underneath his jeans. He ties his sneakers, flips on his jersey, the horn sounds and the game starts. He drops about 40 or so on us, like it was nothing. What a show. And yes Rickey Palmer was a non factor. The school had been promoting this game all week and Fly was the whole show. Brooklyn was a great place for High School basketball. Boys High , Canarsie had Lloyd Free, The King brothers Bernard than Albert. Maybe there is a book in that ?
Thanks for letting me share, this was great.