The basketball world lost a true streetball legend last night when word broke that AND 1 Mix Tape star Tyrone Evans, aka “Alimoe,” aka “The Black Widow,” had suffered a seizure and passed away (a rumor confirmed by his close friend and fellow And 1 teammate Aaron “AO” Owens).
Alimoe was a legitimate playground icon – the Harlem native was one of the original pioneers at the head of the AND 1 Mix Tape revolution of the late ’90s/early ’00s. He was a phenomenon in his own right; one of the leaders in a movement that altered basketball culture forever. And he was in it before TV and corporations turned it into Clown Town (Luckily, Alimoe got out before it went that far south).
Standing 6-7 with wicked handles and an effusive personality, he was perfect for the cameras and a natural foil for the other AND 1 stars, especially Rafer Alston. The two of them even starred in their own “Skip vs. Alimoe: Battle Tape” (You can see clips from the tape after the jump).
For the original members of the Dime family, we were just starting out in our previous incarnation as the original HoopsTV.com (a site loosely affiliated with AND 1). We had front row seats to the AND 1 Mix Tape phenomenon as it was taking off, which led to pretty consistent interaction with Alimoe and the guys. On a personal level, while I didn’t get to know Alimoe as well as I did guys like Rafer and The Main Event, I worked with him many, many times over the years for features in Dime and various other one-off projects – I can absolutely echo the sentiments in this morning’s Smack: Alimoe was genuinely a great guy.
He will be missed.
To honor The Black Widow, here are some clips of his best work, including seven+ minutes of that tremendous “Skip vs. Alimoe” battle tape:
More Alimoe highlights:
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