The All- Philly Team by David Young

Don't you wish Kobe was a Sixer? Sheesh, I know I do. Because, gosh golly, I wish NBA ballers tried something old-fashioned for once and played for their hometown teams. Actually, I guess that puts Kobe in Italy somewhere, but anyhoot... Major liability issues aside, there should a summer exhibition league of the major US metro areas called "The City League." It could be like 8 teams: NY, LA, Chicago, Philly, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, Baltimore -- all comprised of locally-bred talent. I think they do a similar thing in Australia with rugby or something, and the Aussies eat it up like kangaroo jerky. Hell, the coaches could even be local-yocals. And if the league is a success, throw whole countries into the mix like: Turkey, Serbia, Lithuania, Italy, Spain, Argentina, China, and Turks and Caicos. Jah rastafarI. Is Josh Howard from Turks and Caicos? He should be. Oh man, this league would have some crazy stacked rosters like the new Six Stacker buttermilk pancakes platter from IHOP -- this towering stack of awesome features six of our fluffiest, oversized buttermilk pancakes topped with two poached eggs, banana, and extra gravy! It's a real super yummy crowd pleaser... or super yummy individual pleaser if you're Seth Raivetz. Oh, and it comes w/ side of breakfast meat of your choosing! *breakfast MEAT does not include scrapple, Seth -- $5.99 for a limited time... I got the munchies real bad.

This is just a running list of Philly players. Feel free to contribute:

Kyle Lowry - PG Memphis -- Cardinal Dougherty
Hakim Warrick - PF Memphis -- Friends Central
John Salmons - G Sacremento -- Plymouth Whitemarsh
Marc Jackson - C -- Roman ???
Rasul Butler - SG New Orleans -- Roman
Kobe Bryant - SG Los Angeles Lakers -- Lower Merion Technical Institute?
Aaron McKie - G Grizzlies -- Simon Gratz ???
Matt Carroll - SG Charlotte -- Hatsboro-Horsham
Rasheed Wallace - PF Detroit -- Simon Gratz
Richard "Rip" Hamilton - SG Detroit -- Coatesville
Ronald "Flip" Murray - SG Detroit -- Strawberry Mansion
Jameer Nelson - PG Orlando -- Chester
Malik Allen - C Dallas -- Shawnee (South Central NJ)
Steve Smith - SG Philadelphia -- Northeast High
Mardy Collins - SG New York -- Simon Gratz
Malik Rose - PF New York -- Overbrook
Cuttino "Cat" Mobley - SG Los Angeles Clippers -- Cardinal Dougherty

*The name that excites me the most on this list is Kyle Lowry. I'm a fan of his game. Future Sixer?

Other professional players of note:
Dajuan Wagner -- some polish team
Mustafa Shakur -- some polish team
Steve Smith -- SG -- Northeast High ???
Lynn Greer -- PG -- E&S

*Dajuan Wagner (Camden, NJ) and Mustafa Shakur (Friends Central, PA) are currently playing for the same Polish team -- Prokom Trefl Sopot. They are the only American players on the roster.

Played college ball in Philly area:
Delonte West
Eddie Jones
Tim Thomas

RIP:
Eddie Griffin - PF Houston -- Roman

Here's more on the Philly/Poland b-ball connection:

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080306_Philly_basketball_players_are_at_play_everywhere.html