The week before Allen Iverson made his NBA retirement official, he was playing overseas in the awesome annual LA Lights Streetball event that takes place in Jakarta, Indonesia. The international event usually includes many of the most popular and exciting American streetballers and dunkers, like The Professor, Air Up There, Hot Sauce, Guy Dupuy, T-Dub and Werm, and this year, the Ballup Streetball organization sent over a bunch of exciting fresh faces including Jessie "Spin Cycle" LeBeau, Chris "HoopStar" Staples, Sir Issac and Young Hollywood to play along side one very famous familiar face - Allen Iverson.
Iverson, playing with a towel on his head, took it easy on the competition and let his high flying teammates do most of the damage. Spin Cycle was breaking ankles and toying with defenders the way AI used to while Hollywood, Isaac and Staples did their damage playing way above the rim.
We caught up with one of those high flyers, Chris Staples, and talked about Iverson and his exciting trip to Indonesia.
Rank the following: Doing an event with Iverson. Dunking in front of thousands of people in another country. Meeting Rosario Dawson (with a Ballislife T on!).
Doing an interview press conference is #1 of course, dunking infront of the fans of Indonesia is next . But meeting and talking with Rosario Dawson is right up there
How did it feel doing a press conference with Allen Iverson?
It was an honor to be doing an actual real life press conference with A.I. I grew up watching him and wearing his shoes, or even wearing a sleeve like him. He's a future hall of famer and I know that was a once in a lifetime moment.
Was Iverson different than you expected?
Iverson was much cooler than I expected. The media always posts his crazy interviews that make him out to be extra arrogant, but he was real laid back and down to earth. He had jokes for days and we all had a good time.
In terms of the crowd energy and general atmosphere, is their difference between performing in the US compared to other countries like Indonesia.
I'm used to playing amongst BIG crowds. But this crowd energy was off the charts words can't explain. There was a BIG BIG difference in Jakarta, energy compared to recent events that I've been to in the U.S. Not to bash anyone, but I think America is spolied because they actually get to see us live all the time, whereas foreigners only can resort to YouTube. So to actually see it in person is a treat to them. And they most certainly showed their appreciation. It felt really good to see and hear the energy of the crowd. They were honored to have me there, but I felt more honored to be able to perform in front of them.
Do you think you, Sir Issac and Young Hollywood could take on the 3 best NBA dunkers in a fairly judged dunk contest?
I think, me, Sir Isaac and Young Hollywood could all definitely compete with ANY dunker in the NBA today.
What's next for Staples?
The next thing on the agenda is more than likely a trip to China within the next few days. Then I'm going out to the West coast to perform again.
Be on the lookout for a lot more from Staples. The Harlem Globetrotter blew up on the dunking scene this past year with exceptional performances in the Sprite Uncontainable Game, Showdown contest and the BET Awards exhibition.
As for Allen Iverson...he may be retired from the NBA but I don't expect this to be my last post about him.
