The flight of Icarus of Conrad "McNasty" McRae

Last July, around 7 a.m, in the city so beautiful that its name must be repeated twice, I crossed the 155th road, and met "Kool Bob Love" or "Bobbito the Barber" or "DJ Cucumber Slice", Robert "Bobbito" Garcia, one of the legends of the New York basketball who never become a professional player.

I succeed in shaking his hand, dazzled by the emotions, and he answers with a sentence that I will never forget: "Man, if ya love basketball like me, today is to sad day, Na'mean?” I didn't understand immediately what he was referring to and I asked him explanations while we were going to the intersection with the Eighth Avenue, obviously in Harlem, NYC. While we were entering in "The Mecca", he started to tell me of a game played on the asphalt of the Holcombe Rucker Park.

He spoke of a game happened in 1994 for the Nationally-televised All-Star game where the most talented young player are from Chicago faced those of  New York. To the epoch the rivalry between the two cities was enormous, because of the NBA playoffs clashes between the Bulls of Michael Jordan and Pippen against the Knicks of Pat Ewing and Starks. Bobbito didn’t name a single Chicago name, while he listed all the New York team, pronouncing their name with notable admiration Conrad "McNasty" Mcrae, James "Speedy" Williams, Tony Hargroves, Derrick Canada, Kevin Young and Steve Burt Sr. 

Among all that names however I ask him of Conrad Mcrae. Bobbito pressed play on his ghetto bluster style Radio Raheem of "I Give The Right Thing" style and while we are listening to Jaylib-Mcnasty Filth he explains me as Mcrae went "to bad" on the basket. He came from a strange season to the Syracuse University, where their lost Big East Tournament against the Setons Hall Pirates. The pupil of Derrick Coleman in that same year was select in the draft from the Washington Bullets but without Jim Boeheim on the bench the NBA experience never started.   Conrad played a legendary game. Of course, New York won, making people leave the game the wonder on their faces. During a training with Hemming, it was victim of a heart attack that extinguished his.

Conrad played a legendary game. Of course, New York won, making people leave the game the wonder on their faces. During a training with Hemming, it was victim of a heart attack that extinguished his talent for good. He was only 29 years old. Even today, in New York his name remains, because every year the Conrad McRae Youth League organizes an event in Brooklyn in his honor. Even if we were in Harlem, in the end he looked me in the eyes and told me: “This is where McNasty lives on".