The 2003 championship game of the Entertainers Basketball Classic will go down in history as the greatest streetball game that never happened. That's because the biggest stars in basketball came to play at Rucker Park that evening, only for a state-wide blackout to cancel the game.
One of the stars who was supposed to play in that game was 7'6" Yao Ming , who had taken the NBA by storm. If the game had pushed through, Yao would have been the starting center of Fat Joe 's Terror Squad. Or so the story goes.
Ten-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony , who was also supposed to play for Crack's team, addressed the Yao Ming rumors during the recent episode of his 7 PM in Brooklyn podcast.
"It was rumors that Yao was coming," said Melo. "But I think Shaq started that sh**. I think like Shaq 'Yo, if Yao Ming plays, I'll play or some sh** like that. I think Shaq went up to the radio station. And a lot of people were calling the radio station, popping sh**. "
Yao versus Shaq was always a box office hit
Ming arrived in the NBA at a time when Shaq was the most dominant big man in the game. With his height, many were intrigued about Yao facing O'Neal. Their first head-to-head meeting reportedly drew 200 million viewers in China alone.
In that first-ever encounter on January 17, 2003, Yao scored the Rockets' first three baskets and blocked Shaq's first three shot attempts. O'Neal dominated Yao in their second NBA meeting on March 26, 2003. However, a new big-man rivalry was born, and Big Diesel was motivated to play at Rucker Park because Joe was bringing the Chinese center to the Big Apple.
"Fat Joe kept saying 'We bringing Yao, I'm bringing Yao to the Rucker' like he starts saying sh** like that, and I think that's what made Shaq kinda like 'Sh** if Yao coming, I'm with Team Roc," added Melo.
Team Terror Squad versus Team S. Carter
Team Roc was Jay-Z's team, officially known as Team S. Carter, but others referred to them as Team Roc-a-Fella, owing to Jay's music company name. His players included LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Tracy McGrady, Jamal Crawford, Sebastian Telfair, Lamar Odom, and Kenyon Martin.
Meanwhile, Fat Joe's team was dubbed as the Terror Squad. The players who were supposed to be on that team were Melo, Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Jermaine O'Neal, and supposedly Yao. Other members of the team were Amar'e Stoudemire, Rafer Alston, Zach Randolph, Stephen Jackson, and Shawn Marion.
Because of the blackout, most players stayed in private buses and vehicles. Melo said he never saw Yao, but neither did he see several other players. The game was rescheduled, but Jay-Z was set to go on a family vacation. Team S. Carter didn't show up, and Terror Squad won the title by default in an anti-climatic ending.
Related: "If he catch my little as* down there on the block, it's poster time" - Rasheed on how difficult it was to defend Yao Ming
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