This story was beautiful/sad....
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"Do you remember James Felton?" I ask.
McGrady doesn't break stride. "Nope," he replies.
A few steps on, he rubs his hand over his scalp and stops. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," he says, his face lighting up. "He was that guy. The dunk."
There's so much I want to tell him about what has happened to Felton since he last saw him, so much I think he should hear. McGrady first met Felton 12 years ago, in a redbrick gym on the campus of Farleigh Dickinson University in northern New Jersey. On that muggy July day, the wooden bleachers were packed with a mix of baby-faced teens in tank tops and middle-aged men in shiny sweatsuits. Everyone was there to watch the Outstanding Seniors Game at Adidas' ABCD basketball camp. For 40 minutes, fans oohed and aahed at each flashy crossover and howling slam. It didn't matter at all that 24 hours later, no one would remember which team had won.
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One of the most talked-about invitees at the 1996 ABCD camp was James Felton. The 16-year-old rising senior from Jersey City was a top-25 prospect, a smooth post player with nimble feet, a sweet stroke and sharp passing skills. "Of all the big men in our class, James Felton and Elton Brand were the best," says Lamar Odom. College coaches suspected Felton had the most promise of a gifted crop of New York-area talent that included Odom, Brand and Ron Artest. ABCD was his chance to prove it.
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Nearing the Toyota Center's exit 12 years later, T-Mac says, "After I made that dunk, I had chills running through my body. It put me on the map."
And knocked Felton off of it.
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"I'd watched James since his sophomore year of high school," he says. "He had lottery pick written all over him. Then I see this lumbering monster of a guy, nothing like I remembered." The once-rail-thin, 210-pounder was now a bloated 310. But even with all the extra weight, Felton averaged 20.5 points and shot 36% from beyond the arc for the Knights.
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According to Rana, the criticism fueled her husband's drinking. And it mixed badly with a secret no one in the neighborhood or gym knew. For as long as she'd known him, Rana says, Felton didn't like basketball. Didn't like playing it, never watched it, tried to avoid talking about it. He didn't even own a ball. "James lived in denial about basketball," she says. "Every day, he'd pretend it was something he liked. It ate him alive. Having to do what you don't want to do will make anyone sick."
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"I just want to tell kids they don't have to play basketball just because they're tall, black and live in the hood," she says.
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by daba
by Al
