James Felton (T-Mac)

[Bulls_Dynasty6]

I read this earlier. Pretty sad.

[jman3134]

It's a shame that a guy who did not possess the drive to play basketball would be blessed with such talent. I guess that's how the cookie crumbles sometimes. It was a great read, but the correlation is pretty weak. Still, I don't think that was the intention of the article- rather it was to demonstrate contrast. A once no name NBA recruit was put on the map at ABCD camp and blossomed into an NBA star. On the other hand, a once heavily touted high school player fell from grace due to a lack of passion for the game and an inability to buy into the team. It just goes to show that all the talent in the world will not guarantee a spot on an NBA roster. You have to refrain from loosing your temper, and generally be a considerate teammate- also, you have to possess the necessary drive.

[egplaya2004]

Can someone posts some cliffs?

I don't have time to read it all but am intrigued.

You don't have time to read a well written article, yet you're messing around on RealGM?

Does anyone have video of this dunk?

[vwc228]

I doubt a video of this is out there (except maybe Adidas has it if they were video taping the game). This was the era before youtube unfortuantely.

The author made a good point about how Felton felt like he got his manhood on teh court but that dunk took his manhood away from him in the once place where he felt like a man. Very sad story.

[Captain_Morgan]

*spoiler

Good thing his wife has a good job to support his three kids. I hate reading stories like this and the mom have to go beg around an work two jobs to support the family.

[HeatFanSince87]

Sad story indeed, seems like there are many stories of "woulda, coulda, shoulda" high school players, that are the next big thing, then bomb out for various reasons. I remember Stanely Roberts, who had a solid college career, but never came close to his potential.. and many others, yet do not remember all the names.

I remember "Hoop Dreams" with William Gates the "next Isiah" and it got to the point it seemed he hated basketball.

That's what amazing to me, he had a God given talent, but hated that telent, didnt enjoy it, but was conflicted because he knew people expected that of him. But, at the same time, I think it was deeper then that, a servere form of a depression maybe, because even if you do not like your job, if you can be a multi millionaire, I find it hard a "normal" person wouldnt tough it out for 10-13 years to be set for life.. which believe it or not ALOT of NBA players do, as do other pros.

We, in realgm messege boards and the millions of fans have such a passion for the game, and expect and are almost shocked when we watch these players at times kind of just go trhough the motions and not really care.. because we LOVE the game, when a lot of these guys do it for the money. I hate math, but if I was good at numbers and could be a millionaire, I think I would tough it out and do it for a decade or so.. then do something I really want to do when I "retire"

I feel horrible for the guy's family.. 3 kids now have no father, who, based on the article, seemed like a great husband and great father..

[TheKingOfVa360]

Yeah I read it in ESPN Magazine, it was a great read

[Real Talk 07]

All I can say is wow...these two crossing paths pretty much changed their futures...thing is, if James just could've bounced back from that one moment, who knows what he could have become and I'm not just talking about basketball...atleast he was devoted to doing something with himself off the court and taking care of his family...I can definately respect that.

[lethalweapon3]

I'm sure ESPN would've shown the play if it was even remotely taped by somebody. That there is no such tape out there made the dunk even more impressive, with respect to the impact of simple word-of-mouth from scouts and writers at the camp on these two guys' reputations.

One remote place I didn't think of looking, but someone may have it available, is one of the "Born to Ball" DVDs (somewhere around 2001/2002) where they clipped together highlights of guys like McGrady, Pierce, KG, Kobe, Iverson and Tyson Chandler when they were in high school, AAU, etc. I imagine I would have remembered the dunk over Felton from that, but it doesn't ring a bell.

~lw3

[Point forward]

Depressing and an excellent read. Best quote is from Felton's wife:

"James lived in denial about basketball," she says. "Every day, he'd pretend it was something he liked. It ate him alive. Having to do what you don't want to do will make anyone sick."

Just FYI, just because you make a lot of cash from ball does not mean you have to like it. Greg Ostertag, Shawn Bradley or Elmore Smith were not in it either. But still, hard to imagine that sb with SO MUCH NATURAL TALENT in one field can hate this very field so much. A 7-footer with quick feet and passing skills who can hit the three? Rasheed Wallace, anyone?

The VERY depressing thing is that his wife (VP of a bank) most probably earned enough $$$ to keep their family safe for the rest of their lives.

[ropjhk]

I'm sure ESPN would've shown the play if it was even remotely taped by somebody. That there is no such tape out there made the dunk even more impressive, with respect to the impact of simple word-of-mouth from scouts and writers at the camp on these two guys' reputations.

One remote place I didn't think of looking, but someone may have it available, is one of the "Born to Ball" DVDs (somewhere around 2001/2002) where they clipped together highlights of guys like McGrady, Pierce, KG, Kobe, Iverson and Tyson Chandler when they were in high school, AAU, etc. I imagine I would have remembered the dunk over Felton from that, but it doesn't ring a bell.

~lw3

Maybe the reason why the dunk had such an impact was because it wasn't taped. Word of mouth can cause an even to be exaggerated.

[lethalweapon3]

Maybe the reason why the dunk had such an impact was because it wasn't taped. Word of mouth can cause an even to be exaggerated.

Completely agree. The challenge for the "witnesses" was to try to explain to coaches, reporters, other scouts, fellow players, etc., what they saw in the context of this heretofore unknown kid's uncanny athleticism... and why it was so special that anybody should care. Imagine Vince over Freddy Weis (2000) without the permanence of TV and photographers. We'd have about 5,000 unique interpretations, told with varying levels of excitement, of what really happened in Sydney. Similar to what happened to Felton, Weis himself would be "some French guy" with his actual name bearing NO significance to anyone. Heck, he might have even come over to play for the Knicks (who drafted him) for a couple of years before anybody figured it out.

That Tracy was capable of slamming the ball over a blue-chip opponent, even emphatically, wasn't truly what left the impression on the camp, but the way in which he was able to confidently redirect his body and the ball in mid-air to finish the play WAS impressive (I imagine something akin to VC over Zo, except with the ball switching hands on the windmill... there I go exaggerating!). Plus it only helped to punctuate his eye-opening play throughout the camp (bringing the ball up court, decent shot range for a tall guy, etc.)

~lw3

[rockybalboa11]

wait.

she is the vice president of a bank and lives in "the hood" ??