We’re a long way from the blacktops of Brooklyn and the Bronx, but Melbourne is well-represented in basketball. From the 90s when Andrew Gaze and Shane Heal were reppin’ in the NBA to the more recent era of Andrew Bogut and Ben Simmons, we’re punching above our weight on a global scale.
Jermaine Maybank is hustling to be a big part of Melbourne’s continued on-court success. The Bronx native is working overtime to give the many unearthed jewels of Melbourne’s streetball scene some long-overdue shine. With family connections to streetball royalty Rod Strickland and former NBL star Drederick Irving (you may have heard of his son, Kyrie), and a history of playing for Fat Joe’s Terror Squad at Rucker Park, Maybank is just the man for the job.
After moving to Australia in 2008 to play professionally, Jermaine noticed a void in the scene and created Streetball Madness to fill it. He spoke to Complex AU about the culture of basketball, and the upcoming Battle Force streetball event.
For your chance to compete in Jermaine’s upcoming Streetball Madness tournament, hit this link.
So let’s start at the beginning – how did you go from playing streetball in the Bronx to professional basketball in Melbourne?
I got an opportunity to play in Brazil on a short-term contract in early 2008. But my grandfather had passed. The Brazilian team was basically saying ‘if you leave, don't come back'. So after the funeral was over I was looking for a job, and it just so happens that I grew up in the same area as Kyrie Irving's dad, Drederick Irving – him and Rod Strickland, they're all best friends with my uncle – I was in the gym working out, waiting on my agent to give me a call, and Drederick comes to me and says 'what the hell you doing here?’ He says 'let me make a phone call'. He had ties out here in Australia with Simon Mitchell, one of the assistant coaches over at Melbourne United. They sent me over here February 2008, and I've been here ever since. 10 seasons.
So in between playing with Sandringham, you’re also set up Streetball Madness. what was the process there?
There's a void here for streetball; guys like myself, I got to play ten years professionally, but it started with streetball, that’s how I got my look. They don't have that here; so if you’re not playing rep, you're not playing NBL, you're not playing any pro league here in the entire nation of Australia, you don't get recognised.
Back home it's a whole bunch of scouts that would come and watch streetball games. It's pro scouts, semi-pro, college, you've got a lot of opportunities to get it. There's a lot of hungry guys here, just right in the heart of Melbourne that we don't even know about.
So my thing was how can I bring the New York City streetball element to Melbourne? I had to start my own thing. I had a little bit of tutelage under the late great Greg Marius, the commissioner of Rucker Park EBC. I studied under him a little bit and just before he passed he gave me a little bit of insight into how to do these tournaments and what we try to get out of it, what passion we need to bring to it, and that was the whole thing about bringing the game here.
The format is a bit different; it's called Streetball Madness because of three elements: You're getting the streetball, the NBA rules and the NCAA tournament format. So it's all combined into one.
So it’s like streetball and March Madness, Streetball Madness
Exactly.
So what can you tell us about the Battle Force event on December 3?
Battle Force Sunday, it's gonna be insane. I can't thank Nike enough for putting on this big old spectacle that they got going on at the hangar. Celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Air Force 1, which I am a very big fan of, it's a shoe I wore all my life. And if you're lucky enough to be one of those four teams to represent in Battle Force; it's the first time it's ever been done here. Those teams will want to make their impact on it.
Speaking of impact, what kind of an impact do you want to have in Australia with Streetball Madness?
The long term goal is to do not just Streetball Madness but to do a whole bunch of tournaments throughout the city here. My NBA was playing streetball back home in America. I want streetball to be someone's NBA here; something to look forward to. Not just 3 or 4 times a year but, there's 15-20 tournaments a day in New York. I want 15 tournaments a day here, and I want to be the guy to do it. All the authenticity is coming from me. I lived this. That's the long term goal.
You mentioned your uncle is a close friend of Rod Strickland, those ‘Finish Your Breakfast’ joints are actually my all-time favourite AF1.
Rod Strickland, all the pro players in New York City, they're playing in low-cut Air Force 1s, that’s just what we're comfortable playing in. There's a whole bunch of shoes now but these are the ultimate streetball shoe, this is where it started from.
With those family connections to Strick and Drederick Irving, basketball must have been around you from a very young age.
All around. Every 5-10 blocks in the Bronx, there's a basketball court. You'd be lucky enough to get on court to get a shot. That's how competitive it is. Everyone’s just trying to prove themselves to the opposition, the locals, the guys they grew up with, it's tough just to get on the court. And when you're on the court you trying to stay on the court. You gotta work really hard just to get better to be on the streetball court. So short term, that’s the goal – how can I get on the court? Let's start there. Then it’s ‘how can I stay on’, and then from how can I stay on, it's ‘how can I make a name for myself’. And the show goes on.
It's a cutthroat game. There's so many guys playing basketball in New York City. We kinda look at it as our only way out. So that's why it's ultra-competitive, and that's the void I don't see here, so I want to bring that here.
When we talk about the culture, you must see all elements of it come together when you're playing streetball in the Bronx: The fashion, the music, and the game of basketball.
Everything all ties in together with hip-hop. Rappers wanna be basketball players, basketball players wanna be rappers. Everybody wanna make a statement with their fashion, you see all these personalities and all these bright colours. I come in, I'm wearing all these bright colours and big chains and everybody’s looking at me like I'm crazy, but this is the culture. This is what made me, this is how I got here. And that culture goes a long way cos you get the inspiration from the music. Music brings the theatre to the game, you just feed off that.
There has to be a connection there; the idea of being the ‘King of New York’ was so important in hip-hop and I'm sure it was the same on the court.
Yea, you wanna develop some sort of personality, and where you get these personalities from? You watch movies, you get it from rappers, and you always try to come with that very cocky, real confident attitude. and you get that from watching movies like ‘Paid In Full’, like ‘Scarface’, all time great movies. You wanna take that attitude and use it on the basketball court.
You're not playing in the upcoming tournament, but you would normally play with a team called Terror Squad. Let’s talk about that.
I play with a team called Terror Squad, that's right. I'm really close with Fat Joe. We grew up probably like ten blocks apart. He grew up in Trinity, I grew up in Cypress Avenue, about ten blocks apart. Terror Squad is the group; when Joe made it, we all made it. At that time, I was building my brand and I'm becoming a face of New York City streetball, and he puts a team in to the biggest tournament in the city; Rucker Park. I'm a part of those teams, playing with some of the best streetballers in the world. When Joe puts a team out there, you know it's close to the NBA for us. That's like being picked up by the Knicks… a better version [laughs].
So you played Rucker for Fat Joe's team?
Yea, I played one season with them in not only Rucker but all over the city. So when I brought that team here, I got the consent from Joe. ‘Can I make this happen here?’ he's like, ‘Yo Pringle – that's what he calls me – make sure you get the best team, you know how we do.’ I got the talk, and now I got one of the hottest streetball teams in Melbourne. Everybody's gunnin for me cos of the name and where it comes from.
So we've just gotta make sure there's no Roc-A-Fella team then
[laughs] We can’t have no Roc-A-Fella team! Although Joe's with Roc Nation now so we're cool.
Were you ever a part of that rivalry?
My era was right after that. So I was watching it. At the time, I'm 17, I'm trying to get to that point. I watched those games, hangin’ on gates in Rucker Park just to see the championship game. I got a whole bunch of cuts on my chest just from trying to watch the game.
How are you able to express yourself when you're playing?
I don't feel right if I'm not dressed properly, and this is real shit. If I'm not dressed down, like Nike head to toe, all matching: black socks, black shoes or white shoes with the Swoosh, that's just how I've been.
Me being comfortable on the court, starts with the style. My uncle said, 'you look pretty, you play pretty'. I always followed that. From way back watching Michigan with Jalen Rose, the style they put on, that's the culture. And when I'm on the court I bring the attitude of what I listened to in the car on the way to the game. It could be Jay Z if I'm feeling more mellow and really just want to play smart. If I'm feeling a bit more rowdy and wanna get some energy, I might listen to 2pac. The culture is the style, hip-hop, flavour. It can be movies as well; I like to watch gangster movies before I get out there and impose myself on the opposition.
OK so let's end it here, I'll flip a little White Men Can't Jump on you; would you rather look bad and win or look good and lose?
Both! [laughs]
Jermaine has linked with Nike to create Battle Force, the city’s biggest ever streetball event, taking place on Sunday December 3. For more info, click here.
