Earl Manigault: The Greatest Of All Time
The term “Goat” is given out very loosely nowadays but I can remember when there was only one Goat, and his name was Earl Manigault. I came up in an era where there were only two ways out of the hood, one was being a rapper and the other was Basketball. I chose basketball as my way out and worked tirelessly to become the best basketball player I could be. I met Earl “The Goat” Manigault when I was 13 years old. I would travel around the city with my friends looking for pickup games and stumbled on a tournament that he ran on Amsterdam Avenue on the upper west side of Manhattan. I’d watch on the sidelines for hours and ultimately would ask Earl himself if I could play on a team. I remember him immediately throwing me a red t-shirt and told me that I had next. I was a tall kid and appeared to be older than I actually was. This game would be with guys around 16 and I had just turned 13. Even though I was scared, I knew that this would be my chance to show people that I could play with the older guys. I ain’t going to lie and say I had 30 that game but I did hold my own with maybe about 12 points, a few rebounds and a few assists. They collected the t shirts after the game and told me to come back for next weeks games.
Earl Manigault was a huge advocate of the Each One Teach One program in Harlem. He always showed love especially if it had anything to do with Basketball. Photo jerseyempire.wordpress.com
All I really wanted was that Goat tournament T shirt! But I knew there was only one way to get it and that was to earn it. At this age, having a T-shirt from the Goat tournament meant everything to me. Earl made sure that I was there and on time for the game the next week by personally calling my mother and grandmother and letting them know that I had a game. He would always call and let them know that I needed to take the sport more seriously and stop joking all the time. At this point I didn’t really know Earl’s history or the legend behind his name. All I knew was that this man had a tournament that I had been hearing about that and I wanted to play. I showed up at the game ready to play and was blindsided by the coach of the team, a guy everyone called One Eyed Sam, who yelled “He wasn’t at practice! He’s not playing!” So I had to sit on the sidelines and watch as my team play without me. I didn’t even know there was practice. Following the game Earl made sure that I knew exactly when and where this practice was, and told One Eyed Sam that I would be there next time. From that day on Earl checked with Sam to make sure I was at every practice and every game. Earl Manigault was an advocate for me and all the youth he encountered.
In his older years all Earl cared about was helping kids escape the dangers were present in inner city communities. Here he is showing some kids he still had a little game left in the tank. Photo The Shadow League
It was later that I would hear stories about Earl from his days at Rucker Park. He was definitely a legend! He played with the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Joe “The Destroyer” Hammond, Julius Erving, Connie Hawkins and Pee Wee Kirkland. All these guys were legends of the blacktop and it was an honor knowing one of these guys in real life. Manigault wasn’t a tall guy at all, maybe 6’1 at best, but was known for soaring over his opponents and exhibiting an array of moves that were ahead of his time. He would go up and block the shots of guys nearly 7 feet tall back in his prime. Then was the legend of Manigault jumping so high that he once snatched some change from the top of the backboard. I still haven’t seen anyone get close to doing that yet. The Goat was must see tv! People flocked to anywhere The Goat was playing. People wanted to witness his leaping ability for themselves and ultimately lose money betting against him. Manigault never played pro but he easily could of played in the NBA. I’m sure he regretted not playing pro ball but the impact that he had on the youth more than made up for that.
Before he passed away Earl Manigault life was depicted in the movie Rebound. Here he is with Actor Eriq La Salle and NBA players Kevin Garnett and Joe Smith (also actors in the movie). Photo IMDb
It was well a known fact that Manigault had had his issues with drugs. He would tell myself and the other kids he mentored to stay away from drugs or risk ending up like him or even worse. He developed heart disease due to that drug use and ultimately passed away because of it. I was in Prep school in Connecticut when I heard the news of his passing away. I still remember what I was doing when I got that sad news. I will always remember May 15th, 1998 for that reason. It seemed like all Earl wanted to do was help kids avoid all the pitfalls that plagued our inner city. He created midnight basketball and drug awareness programs to help kids who have fallen victim to these issues. He did outreach at teen centers and fought vigorously to help steer kids away from the very thing that ultimately destroyed his life. He was the kind of guy that would give his last to a kid who needed it. I remember him him giving me and a friend of mine the umbrella he was using just so we wouldn’t get wet. He ended up soaked from head to toe but that didn’t matter to him. He was a class act.
Actor Don Cheadle portrayed Earl Manigault in the movie Rebound.
I really enjoyed seeing his life played out on the big screen in the movie Rebound. Don Cheadle did an exceptional job but even that wasn’t enough in my opinion. Nobody watching a movie could understand what kind of guy he really was. Granted, I met him when he was already relatively old but I’m glad that I had that pleasure in the first place. He’s a once in a lifetime type of guy and they just don’t make people like him anymore. He used the very thing that destroyed his life to help steer kids away from it. It takes a very selfless person to do what he did for his community. He will always hold a special place in my memories and may he Rest In Peace.