Joe “The Destroyer” Hammond
Imagine being able to say you scored 50 Points in half a game against Julius Erving, one of the NBA’s all time greatest players. Sounds like a fairytale but there is one man who can say this without lying, and that man is Joe “The Destroyer” Hammond.
As legend would have it Peter Vecsey, the Hall of Fame writer formerly of the NY Daily News, once coached a team at the Rucker Park. They were called the Westsiders and were led by NBA All-Star and legend Charlie Scott. One hot July afternoon in 1971 the Westsiders would take on Milbank in a game that would be dubbed as the greatest basketball game of all time. Scott would Team up with none other than Hall of Famer Julius “Dr. J” Erving. They took on Joe Hammond and Pee Wee Kirkland, two of the best Streetball players versus two of the best NBA players. The game started at 2 pm to a capacity crowd but there was one problem there was no Joe Hammond. People hung off gates, scaled buildings and did whatever they needed to do to catch a glimpse of this game. Joe Hammond arrived late to the game. Some say he arrived in a white limousine and entered the park on 154th street to thousands of onlookers. When he arrived the crowd parted like the Red Sea and went into a frenzy. It was nearly half time and Joe’s Team Milbank was down by 12. Hammond made that lead disappear by himself. I could only imagine what it was like in that park watching Hammond and Dr. J go at it Hammond was said to go off for 50 Points in the second half alone. Although some people deny that he actually had 50, the story lives on. This was part of the allure of this era in Streetball, there was no video, record books or official scorebooks. Just legends being legends and making a name for themselves.
When I was around 12 years old I played for a guy named “One Eyed Sam”. Sam was a legend in his own right having been around the NYC basketball scene since maybe the ’60s. He used to take a small group of us to see Joe Hammond for a few pointers on and off the court. He would talk to us about being responsible young men and give us advice on how to navigate around all the dangers that plague young men of color in the inner city. At that time I didn’t understand who exactly Joe Hammond was and how important he was the basketball culture. It was difficult as a kid to believe the stories of scoring 60 or 70 Points in a game on the regular, but as I got older and saw Hammond around the neighborhood I would always shout him out and show love remembering the stories I had heard about him. He’s has a heart of gold and is one of the most genuine people that I have ever met.
The same year as his matchup with Dr. J, Hammond would be selected by the Lakers in the first-ever Hardship Draft. The Hardship draft was a compromise from the NBA, to ease up on the rules that required draft picks to stay in school for four years. The Hardship Draft allowed prospects to enter early as long as they could prove the financial need. Hammond was a high school dropout but was making more money on the street than NBA players at the time. So the allure of leaving the street life alone for a career in the NBA wasn’t there for Hammond.
Hammond’s story is a unique one and serves as a cautionary tale for all youngsters who love the game of basketball and love the street life as well. At the end of the day, those two games don’t mix. The streets will eat you alive and spit you out and doesn’t care how well you dribble or can shoot the ball. In the case of Joe Hammond, the streets weren’t kind to him. It’s no secret that drug use took a toll on his life but today Hammond remains well respected in the basketball world. The stories of how he would demolish competitors passed down from generation to generation like an old folk tale.
Hammond is a Streetball Legend. Arguably, the best Streetball player to ever exist. Alongside players like Earl Manigault, Charlie Scott, and Pee Wee Kirkland, Hammond would solidify his legendary status by entertaining the masses who came to see the show at Rucker Park in Harlem. I remember hearing stories about Hammond and Kirkland both scoring 50+ on the same team several times. Or other times scoring 74 Points in the Rucker Pro League and taking himself out of the game. These are some of the stories that get passed down by word of mouth before the invent of social media. This is how I came to grow my understanding of who the forefathers of the Streetball culture were.
Joe Hammond is an all time great. A quiet guy off the court but a terror on the court. He could replicate any move that any pro did and probably do it better. Described as the Steph Curry before Steph Curry existed, Hammond shot from 30+ feet out on a regular occasion. The only difference was that in Hammond’s day there was no 3 point line. He would shoot from that far out just because he could and nobody in their right mind would be guarding him that far from the rim. Playing in the Rucker Pro League was like playing in the NBA. It validated your game and put a stamp on your name to play there. Nobody’s perfect, and Joe Hammond is aware of all the potential that was wasted but he continues to be a stand-up individual and still shares his story in order to help the youth stay away from the perils of street life, drugs, and negative behavior. Salute ?