Connie Hawkins was a shadow star, a playground legend from New York City whose best games were witnessed by precious few.
As a teenager in the early 70's, King knew the names of Brooklyn's playground legends of previous years.
And New York has seen its share of playground legends swallowed by the streets.
The players are college stars and playground legends; unemployed homeboys and juvenile counselors; teachers and bouncers.
America's inner cities are full of playground legends who never made it through college and ended up on the street when a professional sports contract failed to materialize.
He is a playground legend who hopes the Kings, now in their first season, will tap into the borough's love of the sport.
Far beyond the view of fans, and of outsiders who knew him as another playground legend, Manigault is a resource who will be sorely missed.
At night, he played in Nashville's Midnight Basketball League, made up of the city's former playground legends.
Lucas had become a local playground legend by age 15, in Sunset Park.
The first thing to know about Roger Brown is that he was not a playground legend.