You may think Michael Jordan embodies the spirit of basketball, but the players who play pick-up games on hardscrabble big-city courts may be the sport’s most committed players. Today, “Soul of the Game,” a multimedia exhibit that pays tribute to the creative brand of basketball played on the asphalt courts of big-city parks and playgrounds, opens at the Field Museum for a nine-week run.
The exhibit includes 130 photographs by John Huet and recordings of hip-hop poetry and rap that capture the intensity and skills that are displayed at such storied sites as Chicago’s Nat King Cole Park on the South Side and New York City’s Rucker Park. Among the featured players who have attained legendary status in the urban game are Jackie “Jumping Jack” Jackson of New York, whose ability to leap was said to enable him to remove a coin from the top of a backboard and who eventually became a Harlem Globetrotter; Earl “Goat” Manigault, who was celebrated for slamming home 36 backward dunks on a bet and for whom Goat Park in New York City was named; and eight Chicago playground immortals, including Paul McPherson, Lamar Mondane and Arthur Sivils. The exhibit, which ends March 15, is free with general admission ($7 for adults and $4 for children of 3-17). Call 312-922-9410.
———-
Send inquiries to [email protected]