Vancouver streetball legend ‘King Handles’ subject of short film
There is a degree of disrespect that comes with being a pro streetballer. They’re dismissed as minstrels, as street-corner performers, players always labelled as uncoachable by traditionalists.
They’re also legends. Vancouver has its own legend, though few remember the coronation of King Handles and his crew, The Notic. Hoops in the 604 is always going to be connected with NBAers such as Steve Nash and Rob Sacre, not Goosebumps, Six Fingaz, David Dazzel or Johnny Blaze, and certainly not the King himself, Joey Haywood.
Kitsilano-raised filmmaker Ryan Sidhoo has produced a five-minute short as part of the recently released Friends of Canadian Broadcasting series, detailing the story of Haywood and how he became to be known as King Handles.
Haywood, now 35, has been barnstorming across Japan and China, but he still hasn’t given up on his pro dream. He played in Denmark and Halifax, and was one of the final tryout cuts for the Raptors’ 905 team three years ago, but is still battling the same streetball stigma he faced as a high-schooler at Magee Secondary.
“I think up until about five to 10 years ago, elements of streetball were not seen as fundamentally sound. I think the old-school gatekeepers of the organized basketball world did not see the value in some of the moves, combos and style of play that was coming from the playground,” said Sidhoo, who also produced True North, a ninepart docuseries that goes inside the rising wave of hoop talent coming from Toronto, following five teens with aspirations of reaching the NCAA and beyond. “This perception had a trickle-down effect from the top all the way down to coaching at the grassroots level that remained for decades. I should mention that there are hegemonic cultural ideas related to race and power involved in this view that basketball from the streets had no place at the pro level.
“Even Joey’s opportunities were altered because of this bias, but because the biggest NBA stars are incorporating these moves into their game today and we are seeing fresh faces in the coaching body, the lines between streetball and organized basketball are blurring and the game is more exciting. Streetball is rooted in creativity and excitement, and now the NBA knows that sells.”
Sidhoo is hoping his feature on Haywood, Down with the King, will be the springboard to a longer film on The Notic, a group that included Andrew (Fingaz) Lew, Dauphin (Delight) Ngongo, David (Dazzle) Mubanda, Jamal (Where You At?) Parker, Jermaine (Fresh) Foster, John (Johnny Blaze) Mubanda, Mohammed (Goosebumps) Wenn and Rory (Disaster)
Grace. The group was featured in two mixtapes filmed by Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux and Kirk Thomas — The Notic and The Notic 2 — and was on par with the famed And1 Mixtape tour players in talent, but not exposure.
Their names have faded with time, their faces relegated to grainy YouTube videos shot in the shadows of Science World — apart from Haywood. The six-foot-one guard has spent the past few years doing exhibition tours in Asia with the District 6 company, although he still doesn’t get the same level of recognition locally.
“I think the energy is a lot more, a lot higher in China, than locally here. They love the streetball more. They love the essence of the game. I get more love over there,” Haywood said. “I notice now a lot more people coming up to me here, but you always get more love outside where you live.
“Here, it’s cool, a lot of people know me, but … I have so many more opportunities (outside Vancouver), collaborating with a lot of people, do a lot of events.”
He’s spent more time locally growing his basketball camps — the School of Handles — to stay close to his wife and two children, now five and nine years old. An Instagram
following that has grown exponentially in the past few years — now closing in on 160,000 followers thanks to his overseas shows — has been a boost to his skills clinics.
“Since I’ve been doing my basketball academy out here, and my social media is growing and growing, I see a lot of kids attending my academy a lot more,” he said. “I don’t really have to advertise as much … I just make one or two posts and I’m already getting kids interested.
“It’s competitive — super-competitive,” he added of the local academy scene.
“There’s a lot more opportunities, a lot more academies to develop and learn the game, which is great. I just think we need to somehow get together; maybe do one big clinic. Being competitive is great, but to be honest, and being true, we need to develop more professional basketball players, and more NBA players,” Haywood said.
“You look at Toronto, and the depth of the culture there, we need to figure out how we find the next Steve Nash or the next Rob Sacre.”
Streetball is rooted in creativity and excitement, and now the NBA knows that sells.