It’s generally assumed that the process of getting young ballers from the projects to college and possibly the pros is a dirty business wrought with sleazy agents and predatory middle-men looking to make a buck off unsuspecting kids. Movies such as He Got Game and Through the Fire show what the superstars – both fictional and real – of Lincoln High in Coney Island went through as they navigated the process: dodging agents, accepting offers and hearing promises of fame and fortune in the NBA. Stories of the mythical Worldwide Wes floated around the internet for years until he finally surfaced with CAA last summer, as his influence on John Calipari-bred stars such as DaJuan Wagner, Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans and John Wall wreaked of shady dealing. Needless to say, it’s a tricky world that has yet to produced a real consensus about whose interests are being met. But before all that, before Worldwide Wes, before Spike Lee and before Sonny Vaccarro, there was Rodney Parker in Foster Park, Brooklyn. And during the summers of 1973 and 74, 24-year-old Rick Telander hung with Rodney as he scouted the courts for kids with enough game to get a prep school or college to take them in. It was a different world, and Heaven is a Playground details it beautifully.
