Fat Joe 's Terror Squad won the controversial 2003 Entertainers Basketball Classic championship, but he admits that might not have been the case if the statewide New York blackout had not postponed what would have been the greatest streetball game ever at Rucker Park .
According to Crack, both he and opposing team manager Jay-Z had surprises under their sleeves for that August 14th title game. However, Team S. Carter literally had a bigger rabbit under its hat— Shaquille O'Neal . Joe says the Diesel would have spelled the difference.
"If they had Shaq, I'd say they win," Joe admitted . "I'm not dizzy; I'm not crazy. You've got Shaquille O'Neal at that time? You're winning; nobody's gonna stop him."
Shaq was the most dominant player in the NBA
Jay-Z's Team S. Carter already had a star-studded lineup that included the likes of LeBron James, Tracy McGrady, Sebastian Telfair, Jamal Crawford, and Lamar Odom. While Fat Joe declared that he was going to bring Yao Ming to Rucker Park, Jay-Z countered by adding the best big man in the game back then.
Shaq had just led the Lakers to a three-peat and was named Finals MVP in all three championship seasons. In their first two meetings during the 2002-03 campaign, O'Neal owned Yao by dropping 31 points to his 10 and 39 points to his six. When he learned his new rival was going to Rucker Park , Shaq wanted in, too.
"Yeah, I was on the bus because I wanted to make the Brick City energy entrance, you know we do in Jersey," said O'Neal. "Jay-Z sent the plane and I came up because they were saying that Fat Joe had Yao Ming. You know, Fat Joe's my guy, but when they bring Yao Ming up to the city, you know I got to come shut that down all day, every day, baby. Diesel dog mafia!"
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Fat Joe had his surprise
Meanwhile, Fat Joe countered with a team that included Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Carmelo Anthony, Jermaine O'Neal, and Yao Ming. The Terror Squad was also reported to include Amar'e Stoudemire, Zach Randolph, Stephen Jackson, and Shawn Marion. While Jay-Z had Shaq on standby inside a bus, Joe also had his 'secret weapons.'
"The surprise I did have waiting at 57th Street was Mike Bibby and Allen Iverson when they were playing for the US Team," Joe added. "By the first quarter, I was going to drive down to go get them and come back at the Rucker so at halftime AI and Mike Bibby would walk in."
The 2003 EBC championship game would have been, without question, the greatest streetball game ever played. Unfortunately, it ended up becoming the infamous Blackout Game. Shaq never had another opportunity to play at Rucker Park.
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