Basketball History: 5 Greatest players of all time outside the NBA

Some players found themselves a little too drawn to the hustler lifestyle.
Some players found themselves a little too drawn to the hustler lifestyle.

#5 Earl "The Goat" Manigault

"The Goat" is arguably the most well-known streetball legend of all-time

The 6-foot-1 jumping jack had a 52-inch vertical which he often used to win bets on the street. A few of them including grabbing money off the tops of backboards and reverse-dunking 36 times. He was a dunking legend, posterizing greats like Connie Hawkins and Kareem on a regular basis at the Rucker.

During his time at the NYC Junior High School, he set a scoring record of 57 points in a game. Colleges all over the country wanted to recruit him but things never worked out for "The Goat". Unfortunately, Earl got caught up in heroin addiction which led to prison stints and eventually, death due to heart failure at the age of 53 in 1998.

The respect for him knew no bounds; the playground at 99th and Amsterdam in New York is named Goat Park in his memory and one of the squads for the Boost Mobile Elite 24 is named in his honour. The 1996 HBO movie 'Rebound' immortalised Manigault's legacy with Don Cheadle starring as The Goat.

Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma, or Kim Mulkey - who is NCAAW's highest-paid coach? Find out here

Quick Links

Edited by Debjyoti Samanta
Sportskeeda logo
Close menu
WWE
WWE
NBA
NBA
NFL
NFL
MMA
MMA
Tennis
Tennis
NHL
NHL
Golf
Golf
MLB
MLB
Soccer
Soccer
F1
F1
WNBA
WNBA
More
More
bell-icon Manage notifications