Rafer Alston plays for the Miami Heat. His team is in the second round of the playoffs. Rafer Alston runs the point and puts up decent numbers as a backup point guard But his alter ego Skip to My Lou is one of the most fascinating players ever. A playground legend who was the inspiration for the And-1 Street team and his sick handle, wicked one-on-one moves, and vicious break their ankles crossover spawned the streetball market that has grown to include numerous blacktop summer tours, ESPN2 and MTV programs, a tidal wave of straight to video b-ball tapes, Nike and other shoe commercials, shoe contracts for streetball stars, and Playstation 2 plus Xbox video games. All this off of one mans dribbling technique.

Now don't get me wrong. Streetball has been around forever. Since the days of Pee Wee, The Goat, Dr. J, and Sweet Pea. Where do you think the ABA got all their players from. And Harlem's Rucker Park Entertainers Basketball Classic is a mainstay and must see in the summer but it wasn't until Skip to My Lou arrived that the scene exploded and became the multimedia sensation that it is today.

And besides the Air Jordan before MJ, the great Doctor, Julius Erving, not many prominent streetballers have made it to the League and even less have succeeded. There seems to be a stigma that is attached to streetballers in the NBA. "My streetball reputation kind of held me back," said Alston in ESPN magazine. "People thought I couldn't separate the two styles of play, but I've always considered myself a serious player."

So the fifth-year point guard, who had stints in the CBA and NBDL along with his Rucker Park and And-1 glory tows the NBA line and suppresses his street game for the good of the team and the league. I mean who can blame him the salary he makes in the league is way more then he could ever make on the And-1 tour. But why does the NBA discourage players to suppress their creativity to be successful? Why is this transition from street ball to organized supposedly so hard?

"Transferring the street game to something a lot more organized is difficult." Alston's teammate Bimbo Coles said in ESPN magazine. "It says a lot about Rafer that he could leave streetball and play the NBA game." That is the prevailing sentiment in NBA circles. Streetball is seen as chaotic, unorganized, and not team orientated. But isn't there beauty in chaos? Isn't it fascinating to watch a streetballer break a player down off the dribble with a million little feints, mad dribbling, and crazy crossovers? Could you just imagine the Sportscenter highlights? They already go the dunks and the rainbow thress, so why not add the dribbling aspects and tricks of the streetball game. Turn it up, embrace it, I really think the NBA is missing something. They need Skip to My Lou's game not Rafer Alston's.

I mean we're not talking straight Globetrotters here because in the NBA it's all about the bottom line- win or go home, you hear. But don't they wanna put more fans in the seats and provide breathtaking entertainment? Don't you remember Magic and the Showtime Lakers? The games are getting ugly now. These 70-60 defensive battles are brutal. Look at the way Kings and Mavericks play- uptempo, in your face, attacking. Isn't that what basketball at the highest level is supposed to be about? Now take that model and add Skip to My Lou. Instant crowd pleasing antics and pure entertainment.

And it's not like there aren't players in the League who can do these type of things. There's AI, who has been called the greatest playground player in the NBA. Stevie Francis whose moves are viscous. The Tony Parker Show which is now playing. KB8 who is as sublime as Jordan, Jason "White Chocolate" Williams who has toned down his act. And have you noticed that as his has toned down his act to play more organized ball his publicity and Sportscenter highlights have disappeared. These are only a few of the players in the League who can play at a high level and put on a fascinating show. But the League is full of them. They just don't display their bling-bling street talent for the so-called good of the League and for fear of showing up fellow players.

And Skip to My Lou, if he was allowed to play his game would be a superstar. He would be a Sportscenter Top 10 highlight reel regular. I would love to see him breaking the Gloves ankles and making Karl Malone stumble and fall. But then the Glove would get in his feelings because the NBA is a serious game and you're not supposed to make your man look bad. The Glove would want to fight Skip to My Lou for embarrassing him on national TV and Karl Malone would back up the Glove and get in front of Jim Grey and say how there's no place in the game for antics like that. That's playground stuff. Not NBA basketball. I think Karl's mad because he don't got no crossover.

But if we're talking real, what is more real then streetballers playing for the love of the game on millions of courts across the nation. In the inner city hoods and the suburbs. They're not trying to play NBA basketball as Karl Malone would call it. They're trying to take their man off the dribble and make him look bad. People want to see the moves, spectacle, and humiliation. Sweat and tears, you know. And anyhow, it's just a game, so don't get in your feelings like the Glove surely would just because you got embarrassed by some streetballer's move. And let Skip to My Lou loose on the League. Because if he is let loose and plays his game the way he knows how to, the way it feels natural for him to play, he will be a superstar. If the League is for entertainment's purposes only then bring back the showtime and scrap all these 70-56 scorelines. Because that isn't NBA caliber basketball, that is just ugly basketball.

Seth M. Ferranti's book Prison Stories comes out this fall. Watch for it.