New York City streetball legend “Black Jack” Ryan just posted this YouTube video of him running with Phil Jackson back in 1987 before Phil was brought in by the Chicago Bulls as an assistant.
Anyone into the playground basketball scene here in NYC knows about “Black Jack”. Chris Mullin once said Ryan had the best jump-shot he’d seen that didn’t make it to the NBA. Having played ball with Ryan on several occasions, we can attest that the jumper is knockdown. But more on “Black Jack” another time.
In this video, you get to see Phil coach, rebound, rip an opponent’s shirt, casually flagrant foul a dude for no apparent reason, and read a newspaper on the bench as the game ends. This is indeed vintage Phil Jackson, and it’s pretty incredible.
You also get to see Jack Ryan kill these white dudes in what has to be some rec league in Westchester or Upstate New York. There was no description of the league.
For more on “Black Jack” Ryan, Ira Berkow wrote a nice piece on him for the NY Times back in 2003.
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