Last we told you about the Goodman Coalition, it was a new spinoff of the legendary Goodman League and close to starting. Now, nearly a month into the indoor league, the number of players that have stopped by and played could fill an NBA roster. Goodman fixture Kevin Durant has played, but so has John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Greivis Vasquez, Brandon Jennings, Ty Lawson, Gary Neal and Donte Greene.
“The Goodman Coalition has been fantastic,” says Goodman webmaster Mac Williams. “We’ve had pretty much a star-studded affair every weekend.”
The packed league also draws attention for the regulars too, or people not like Jennings, who also played outside and dropped 36 points. Some, like Neal, rep their own team (Baltimore). Williams says the Goodman Coalition has only enhanced the Goodman League.
With both the outdoor Goodman league and indoor Goodman Coalition running in unison, D.C. basketball, not always the first name to come out of people’s mouths when it comes to hoop cities, has emerged at the forefront of summer leagues. The Drew League still has people flying out to L.A. on weekends and has the most NBA players in the era that Drew commissioner Dino Smiley can remember. But they’re L.A. D.C. is still trying to gain more attention.
“We have some of the best talent in the United States,” says Williams. “And we are underrated because when people talk basketball or streetball or summer league or hoops, it’s always been mostly, even though we’ve been around for 36 years, the first name out of their mouth is always New York. And then it’s Chicago, or it’s Philly. It’s a lot of names before D.C. when you talk about the Mecca.”
Next month’s Goodman League vs. Drew League showdown will shine even more spotlight on the Goodman and D.C. basketball. Because one of the summer’s biggest games will feature a team from the East Coast. And it just so happens to be Washington, D.C.
Williams hopes that the game will raise the status of D.C. basketball. Despite having players like Durant and Michael Beasley hail from the region, D.C. still finds itself living in the shadow of other East Coast cities. But the Goodman-Drew game on August 20 could change that.
“The next time when people talk about (basketball cities) they’ll say, ‘You know what, D.C. got it’ or ‘New York got it,'” says Williams. “Maybe we can be in the same breath. You never know. It’s gonna be a great thing for us. It’s gonna raise D.C.’s notoriety for basketball a lot. Hundreds of times over.”
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