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| At 5'9", he built his legendary street status by jumping over the top of a Volkswagon and slam dunking a basketball. As NBA superstar Jason Kidd puts it, "he could jump over a building." But while Hook's childhood friends, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Antonio Davis, Brian Shaw, J.R. Rider and Greg Foster all ended up playing basketball in the NBA, Hook ended up incarcerated. From the drug and crime infested streets of West Oakland to the California Men's Penal Colony, Hook made all the wrong choices. The story of how "Hook" wound up incarcerated, while the buddies he grew up with skyrocketed to superstardom with multi-million dollar salaries, is told in this poignant tale of a life gone wrong. "Hook" Mitchell is the greatest basketball player to NEVER make it to the NBA. |
| Information from : www.hookmitchell.com http://www.slamonline.com/magazine/features/hook |
| �He was better than me, he was better than Jason (Kidd), Antonio (Davis), he was better than everybody.� "He's probably the best player -- not just from Oakland, but anywhere -- to not make it to the NBA." Gary Payton. |
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| FROM OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA ....... A Birthplace of the most NBA players ........ One Legend Rises ABOVE ALL .... DEMETRIUS 'HOOK' MITCHELL |
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| An interview courtside at the NBA Finals 2004 Jason Kidd calls him "the best player to come out of Oakland." Gary Payton says, "He was better than me. He was better than everybody." For Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell, hoops came easy. It was life away from the game that posed the bigger challenge. Mitchell, a 5-9 streetballer who once dunked while leaping over a car, is the subject of a feature documentary, "Hooked: The Legend of Demetrius 'Hook' Mitchell" that will air on NBA TV Monday night at 8 p.m. ET. The Finals Blog caught up to Mitchell and asked him about his Oakland roots and who he's rooting for in The Finals. What current players do you like to watch the most? Mitchell: "Gary (Payton) and Jason (Kidd), because I grew up playing against them, and I respect them and watch them the most. Some of the people I like watching are people like Richard Hamilton and Richard Jefferson, people that play at both ends of the court. Defense and offense. I also like people like Ben Wallace, because he's the kind of player who works hard and lets everyone else get the credit. I like Ron Artest and the effort he gives." What about guards like Marbury and some of the shorter players, who have similar playing styles to your own? Mitchell: "I like Baron Davis and Steve Francis. They have the same body structure as me. I also like Marbury, for how quick he is." You once jumped over a car to dunk. Can you talk about that? Mitchell: "It started as a hoax. When I was growing up, I was kind of adventurous. One thing led to another, and I started seeing how high I could jump and what things I could jump over. First, I started out by jumping over people. Then bicycles, then motorcycles, and then cars. And one thing led to another, and then in a dunk contest, they asked me to try it." Was that your best dunk ever? Mitchell: "There were some dunks where I was looking into the basket, into the rim. Those were great, and then I shattered the glass one time. That was electrifying as well. And then there was this one dunk where I jumped up so high it felt like my head was over the rim, but I was so far away from the basket that I couldn't dunk it. I had to throw it in. Like the way Richard Jefferson dunks sometimes, without even touching the rim. I call it flushing the toilet without flushing the toilet." Who do you think is going to win The Finals and why? Mitchell: "Well, it's kind of hard to say who I think is going to win. Who I want to win is Gary Payton, because I grew up playing against him. But ultimately, it's going to depend on who comes to play." |