Joe "The Destroyer" Hammond: The greatest streetballer ever to be a never was?

[Iceman#44]

Some more quotes from Asphalt Gods

RETURN OF THE DESTROYER
"Despite the shortage of pros, thousands still flocked to the park that summer, and were treated to an added bonus when The Destroyer, now 26, surfaced from a 3-year absence to tear up the competition.
With each passing game that summer, Hammond's scoring totals rose like the scorching temperature: 29 points in his first game back, 36 the next, then 59, which broke the outdoor league record. By game four of The Destroyer's comeback, even the basketball was sweating. Pro scouts were back in the bleachers to watch him explode for 73 points in a single contest, a Rucker record that would still be standing had The Destroyer not come along later to break it himself.
Incredibly, Hammond's 73 points rampage had come at the expense of Mike Riordan, who had been voted by NBA coaches as one of the top defensive players of their league.
"One by one, NBA players would come to the park to try to shut down Joe, but no one could do it," said Howie Evans of the Amsterdam News. "Cazzie Russell went up there talking all this smack about how he was going to lock up Joe. Well, they met in a game and Joe had 30 on him at halftime and the crowd was going wild. By the end of the game, Joe had 56 and Cazzie left the park real mad, and he never came back."

[kentatm]

[kentatm]

Joe was such a beast that Nike even tried to use his image w/o paying him.

Joe Hammond, the infamous street basketball player known as "The Destroyer" is suing Footlocker and Nike. The Harlem streetballer who rocked the blacktop back in the 1970s claims that the sneaker company's t-shirt sold at Footlocker outlets violates his right of publicity.

According to the NY Post, the t-shirt in question has the tagline "Joe The Destroyer Hammon" (sic) with the picture of a broken down basketball hoop. As if using the poor man's name wasn't enough, Nike even misspelled it. Mr. Hammond was not amused by the shirt and is suing both companies for $5 million dollars in Manhattan federal court.

Right of publicity is the right of an individual to use their name or likeness for commercial purposes. If a person's image, name, or likeness is used for commercial purposes like selling or endorsing a product without his/her permission, then that would violate a person's right of publicity. Even though Mr. Hammond's name is spelled incorrectly, the fact that he was known as "The Destroyer" and was notorious as a basketball player of the streets may make his case compelling.

Mr. Hammond commented outside his Harlem home about the lawsuit. He told the NY Post: "They put a shirt of mine in Foot Locker with no contract." No stranger to contracts gone bad, it is reported that he was offered a contract to play professional basketball with the Los Angeles Lakers back in the 1970s. He is said to have turned down the contract offer because he was making more money dealing drugs on the streets.

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[stalkerforlife]

Good story.

But he certainly is being overrated to make it a better story.

[Pointguard]

He was around all of my life. Heard his exploits over and over. While Archibald always came back, the Destroyer had the people's heart a bit more in Harlem, while Tiny a bit more in the Bronx.