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TOURNAMENT WORDS. Jack Jensen & Kevin Zimmerman PHOTOS. Garth Milan/Red Bull Media House & Stephanie Mei-Ling Red Bull King of the Rock
One-on-one basketball is pure, honest truth. Man vs. man, ego vs. ego. It's bragging rights on a silver plat- ter. Last year, in Red Bull's first season of unleashing its King of the Rock one-on-one tournament onto the hoop world, ballers battled it out in six West Coast qualifying rounds to earn a spot playing at Alcatraz Island. Tis summer, they've upped the ante to 21 qualifying rounds around the nation, with even more going down overseas. And to kick off the race to $10,000 and bragging rights at Te Rock on September 24th, we caught up with some of the finest that congregated in Los Angeles and New York City to rock the courts. Here are their stories:
LOS ANGELES Mark Peters
When Red Bull King of the Rock kicked off its summer in Venice Beach this past June, it brought out some of the city's best local talent. And to the surprise of everyone, including his opponents, fast- talking guard Mark Peters – born and raised in L.A. – took home to tourney's top honor as section champion.
"Every city's got ballplayers, but I feel like I'm a supreme baller," said Peters immediately following his tournament victory. "Nobody is beating me. Any size, any weight, all that – bring 'em on. I don't care; I'm not ducking nobody."
Taking on opponents far outmatching him in size, the under 6-foot Peters never lost any fierceness in his game. The dude was fearless on the court – and it's a mentality he'll need to keep if he hopes to win it all on Alcatraz in September.
Onye Ibekwe There's never been a defined road to make it as a professional basketball player. Most bounce around overseas, some catch on stateside in the D-League, while the majority of others find the roadblocks too hard to overcome. For 27-year-old L.A. native Onye Ibekwe, his path included something only a few players ever can claim: A stop in the NFL.
After hooping at both Oklahoma State and Long Beach State in col- lege, Ibekwe – who had only previously played two years of pigskin in high school – decided to hit up the USC football pro-day. The 6-6 beast of a forward impressed at least one squad, as the San Francisco 49ers picked him up for the year.
"I've always had the itch of playing football," said Ibekwe. "You know, the position I played in college, I knew I wasn't going to make it to the NBA. I'm kind of too short for my position at the NBA, but I have a football body. So I did what Antonio Gates did, and I made it. I made the team."
Ibekwe is now back to basketball, getting some burn in countries around the world, but found himself on the outside looking in to the tournament's final grouping. Not to worry though, as the kid has plenty more opportunities on the hardwood left in front of him.
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