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With the February 6 NBA trade deadline two weeks away, the Brooklyn Nets are one of the most intriguing of the league’s 30 teams as they have attractive players that playoff contenders may be seeking.
The Nets already traded point guard Dennis Schröder to the Golden State Warriors, primarily for draft capital, and forward Dorian Finney-Smith and guard Shake Milton to the Los Angeles Lakers for guard D’Angelo Russell to add to their hefty stock of draft picks.
At the top of the list of Brooklyn’s assets is small forward Cam Johnson, who is statistically having the best season of his career. Johnson, who will turn 29 in March, was averaging career-highs of 19.5 points per game while shooting 50% from the field when the Nets played the Phoenix Suns at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn last night. He is in the second year of a four-year, $90 million contract, which is reasonable and tradable, and a bargain given Johnson’s productivity.
Ben Simmons, a three-time NBA All-Star, is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Unfortunately, his lack of availability due primarily to due to recurring back problems has lowered his value on the court but expiring contracts are coveted by teams looking to clear cap space, so the 28-year old Simmons is a chip the Nets may move as they continue to position themselves for the future in the midst of a long-term rebuild. Simmons has only played in 30 of the team’s first 44 games, which is twice the amount he played last season.
Guard Cam Thomas, still the best scorer on the team, averaging 24.7, could be a significant addition to a team looking for scoring off the bench. Like Simmons, the 23-year-old Thomas has had injury issues, as he has played in only 19 of the Nets 44 games as of last night and is sidelined with a left hamstring strain he suffered on January 2.
The Nets tipped off against the Suns losers of nine of their previous 10 games, including the team’s ninth-straight loss to the Knicks on Tuesday at the Barclays, a 99-95 defeat. Brooklyn last defeated the Knicks on January 28, 2023.
They will host the Miami Heat on Saturday, when they will retire the jersey of hall of famer Vince Carter, who played nearly five of his 22 years in the NBA with the Nets. Brooklyn ends their four-game home stand on Monday versus the Sacramento Kings and face the Hornets in Charlotte on Wednesday.
Departing Pres. Joe Biden hit the latest buzzer beater at Rucker Park, signing a bill to historically designate the Harlem “basketball mecca” as a National Commemorative site earlier this month.
The honor celebrates the playground’s role in American history with an official plaque and opens the door for local organizations to partner with the U.S. Department of the Interior. Rucker Park boasts arguably the most famous outdoor basketball court in the world, the Greg Marius Court, which hosted high-profile streetball tournaments and featured appearances by the sport’s biggest stars ranging from Julius “Dr. J” Erving to Kobe Bryant.
The legislation, which the Amsterdam News first reported on back in Sept. 2024, passed both the United States Senate and House of Representatives without going through any hoops. In fact, Rep. Adriano Espaillat recounted how the hearings on Rucker Park served as a rare unifying moment in Congress.
“Everybody was drawn to it, and it met no opposition whatsoever,” said Espaillat over the phone. “Everybody felt that this program in Rucker Park united the country and, of course, united both sides of the House, Democrats and Republicans. We need more of that in our country.”
Last March, Harlem Globetrotter Bobby “Zorro” Hunter testified to Congress about Rucker Park’s history and importance to the community. The court was also a stop for some Black Congressional Caucus members during their annual visit to New York City.
Espaillat, who led the fastbreak for the legislation alongside then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, says the park also serves as a life-saving oasis for local young people. NYCHA developments, including the Polo Grounds and the Rangel Houses, overlook the playground.
Credit: Bill Moore photo
Located on 155th Street, Rucker Park sits on land that was once home to the 8th Avenue Railroad Company before initially opening as the PS 156 Playground in the 1950s. While the school ultimately closed, the park endured as a New York City landmark.
Namesake Holcombe Rucker, a World War II veteran and Harlem-based NYC Parks playground director, who contributed to more than 700 scholarships, will also be recognized through the bill. His now-mythologized tournaments drew future NBA legends like Wilt Chamberlin and Lew Alcindor (better known now as Kareem Abdul Jabbar) and pitted them against the top amateur streetball players, who often held their own.
But the games also functioned to encourage youngsters to stay away from the streets and pursue higher education while school was out for summer break.
“Holcombe Rucker had a profound impact on the Harlem community and the game of basketball, and designating Rucker Park as a commemorative site recognizes Mr. Rucker’s cultural contributions and ensures the historic park and incomparable basketball mecca will continue to empower youth for generations to come,” said Sen. Schumer in his statement. “I am proud that Rep. Espaillat and I were able to pass this law, working side-by-side with the dedicated community advocates, to honor the legacy of Holcombe Rucker and Rucker Park…Holcombe Rucker dedicated his life to serving the Harlem community and furthering the game of basketball, and I’m glad we can honor that legacy through the national commemoration of Rucker Park.”
An official ceremony for the commemoration is planned for the summer but an exact date is not set as of press time, according to Espaillat.
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member who writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.
Allene Washington prepared to celebrate fifty years in her Altadena home on Feb. 1. While she enjoyed an idyllic childhood growing up in nearby Pasadena, Calif., her hometown was redlined for where Black Angelenos could reside. Washington later moved to Altadena, where the racist practice did not exist and the Black middle-class dream thrived. When she and her husband Leon needed more room, a realtor showed them nearby homes.
“She took us up into the Rubio Highlands — [the] house was for sale — and I fell in love with it immediately,” said the 85-year-old Washington over the phone. “Fortunately, we were able to purchase it. And that’s a two-story house, and I tell you, I was able to run up and down the stairs there. Lately, what I was doing was taking one stair at a time. That’s why we chose the house. It was a quiet neighborhood.”
After purchasing the property in 1975, they called the place home until it was lost to destructive Los Angeles wildfires earlier this month. An avid cook, Washington recalls hosting family over at the home every opportunity she got. “There was enough room for everybody,” she said. Indeed, the home helped raise four children and provided space for Washington’s five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
“Being a kid and going to her house, she would let me help her cook sometimes…she’d always have these little special aprons for me to wear, and I got to keep them in like, a little drawer,” said Washington’s granddaughter Amber. “Just little things like that are just a part of the fabric of the memory of that house. [She had these] water cups that have been around probably as long as my dad and his siblings have been around. And everybody still used them all the time.”
Washington learned about the fire in real-time while on the phone with one of her children, who heard a friend’s mother had just evacuated. She saw the orange sky and heard the howling winds. A phone alert for her to evacuate was issued around 15 minutes later. Washington packed a few bags and suitcases before leaving. When she got outside, all the power was off and she could only see the embers flying down the hill.
Washington and her husband Leon, who is on dialysis, are now staying with their son Paul. While they can no longer celebrate half a century in their home, they look forward to another landmark next month: their 67th anniversary.
“I have four wonderful children, five grandchildren [and] four great-grandchildren,” said Washington. “And the thing that was our home was truly a home. It wasn’t just a house. We lost the house, but we still have a home because we have love and faith in God.”
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Altadena was also where educator Sherry Joiner met her husband Joe, a medically-discharged army artilleryman who came to California to flee racism in his hometown of Kosciusko, Miss, and move closer to his siblings. They got married and purchased a historical house built in 1922, where they raised three children, a niece, four grandchildren, and anyone in need of a helping hand.
Joiner, who moved to California in her childhood and only provided a sly smile when asked about her age, went on to work at the local John Muir High School in Pasadena where she was fondly known as “mom” and “Mrs. J.” She still works for the Pasadena Unified School District today at the district office.
Shortly before Joiner’s husband Joe passed away in 2023, he spent his final moments at home in hospice care. When Joiner lost her home to the fire, she also lost his army heirlooms and pictures, along with her own prized possessions and her daughters’ cherished prom dresses.
“I’m muddling through it,” said Joiner over Zoom. “It’s here, it happened. We’re dealing with it day by day.”
Following the fire, she learned the house was underinsured. To make matters worse, they already received a text message offering to purchase the land.
“It puts on your mind that a lot of people, especially the elderly people, will be thoroughly impacted by this,” said Joiner’s daughter Erika. “Do they have the wherewithal –– the mental health and physical health –– to stand strong for three years and fight off the vultures? Altadena was the place where my parents met, [fell] in love and raised us all.
“It’s really concerning to hear what people are estimating that will happen in terms of not being able to come back in and removing the history and the culture from Altadena. And just the Black [history there], it’s very rooted.”
The community remains tight-knit following the fires. Joiner characterized Altadena as “a Christian-based, church-type town” where people are coming together more than ever. Many of her colleagues were born and raised in the area, with some alumni of the high school she worked at. As Joiner returns to work, she knows many of the students will be directly impacted.
“Because of the air quality and kids with asthma, there’s quite a few things that have to be taken into consideration,” she said. “[And] just where the kids are going to be living.”
While images of Altadena now largely show burned-out buildings and charred brush, the Joiners remember the area’s lush vegetation and stunning mountain view. The “unincorporated area” once served as farmland and many chickens and horses still call the place home. But the manicured touch and large homes are also a legacy of Black home and business ownership.
“[In] Altadena and Pasadena, everything is also very historical,” said Joiner. “Even the trees.”
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member who writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.
The tennis courts at the Jackie Robinson Park Playground in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn are locked and residents want to know why they can’t access them.
A coalition of Bed-Stuy residents recently posted a Change.org petition urging Brooklyn Borough Parks Commissioner Martin Maher to clarify why they lack the same access to their tennis courts as those who use the borough’s other walk-on tennis court facilities.
According to NYC Parks Department regulations, the public is required to have access to parks, and “outdoor tennis courts are open daily, weather permitting, except when under construction or repair or when reserved for tournaments or special events.”
Even though it’s winter and we are in an extreme cold spell, avid Bed-Stuy tennis aficionados expect their local courts to be accessible. “Unlike the courts at Fort Greene, Lincoln Terrace, Leif Ericson, Highland, South Oxford and more,” their petition reads, “we are not permitted to play during daylight hours or walk on the court freely. The Parks Rules and Regulations section 2-01 clearly states that courts are open daily, weather permitting, barring construction, repair, or special events. This should apply to the Jackie Robinson courts as it does everywhere else. Yet these public parks are locked, and the public locked out.”
The four courts at Jackie Robinson Park, located at Malcolm X Blvd. & Chauncey St., were renovated recently. Following years of shoddy maintenance, the resurfaced courts were re-opened in the summer of 2023. The courts remained open throughout the subsequent 2023-2024 winter season. The courts remained open this year as well, up until December.
The Brooklyn Parks Department sent this paper a statement regarding the Jackie Robinson Park’s courts: “We have closed the tennis courts at Jackie Robinson Park Playground during the winter months due to repeated vandalism and misuse during the prior season. We look forward to reopening the courts at the beginning of the season in April.”
When asked for details about the vandalism — like on what dates they occurred and whether, as a result, the courts would be permanently closed every year from now on — a parks department spokesperson said they would reply with more details later.
Bed-Stuy resident Kenny Bruno told the AmNews that he had spoken to a representative in Commissioner Maher’s office and had already heard those two reasons for the court’s closings. “One is that there’s been vandalism. And two, in his words, [it] is ‘illegal charging for tennis lessons.’ But those reasons don’t hold up, honestly.
“First of all, I asked him what the vandalism is because I don’t see any. He mentioned that someone had clipped the lock. Well, if it wasn’t locked, nobody would have clipped the lock. So that would resolve the vandalism issue. Secondly, unauthorized charging for lessons isn’t happening in the winter. But even if it did, that’s not a reason to punish the entire tennis community. That means someone did something unauthorized; that’s an individual issue, and now the rest of us are facing a collective punishment. So that also makes no sense at all.”
Another Bed-Stuy resident, Stefanie Siegel, founder of the non-profit community group Bailey’s Cafe and a member of Friends of Jackie Robinson Park Playground, said she thinks locking up tennis courts has more to do with an ongoing issue community members are having with the Parks Department and its recent selling of the contract for the tennis courts to Omar Durrani, the founder & CEO at Protennislesson.
Last spring, Durrani outbid Bed-Stuy tennis coach Frances Ferdinand for the exclusive right to teach tennis classes on the park’s four tennis courts. Ferdinand had long been offering free and low-cost tennis lessons to area children and adults under her organization, HQ Tennis.
Ferdinand was the original person who pushed the Parks Department to make the repairs on the Jackie Robinson Park tennis courts; because of her efforts, the courts were resurfaced and repainted. But when the next open bid for the parks’ tennis courts contract became available, Ferdinand was outbid for the concession: Durrani offered tens of thousands more than her and won the contract.
The rivalry between two tennis instruction companies may be at the root of why Jackie Robinson Park’s tennis courts are locked closed, at least for now, while Brooklyn remains in a deep freeze.
After two years of an increase in arrivals of migrants and asylum seekers to New York City, migration funding and policies were already a sore spot between Mayor Eric Adams and City Council. Well before President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, words were said, fears were stoked — and people were right to be worried.
At Trump’s second inaugural address, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, he announced executive orders to reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy, redeploy the military to the southern border, designate criminal cartels and organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs), and enact the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 — a wartime authority that allows the president to detain or deport the natives and citizens of an enemy nation.
He also ordered federal agencies to not provide citizen documents to certain children born in the U.S. to parents who are not themselves citizens or permanent residents, and stripped schools and churches of immigration enforcement protections. Trump has a long history with birtherism, going all the way back to the lies he spread about former President Barack Obama.
Adams was present at Trump’s inauguration and hasn’t spoken out about any of his executive orders that could target immigrant New Yorkers. He even went so far as to do an interview with Tucker Carlson, a far-right analyst, in what many are interpreting as another desperate attempt to secure a pardon from Trump.
The city’s Black, Brown, and Asian immigrant groups have been furiously organizing on the ground while elected officials were trying to cement legal protections for immigrant New Yorkers.
On January 16, ahead of Trump’s second inaugural address, Councilmember Alexa Avilés hosted a rally and a council hearing of the Committee on Immigration. A massive showing of advocates and immigration organizations were in attendance, like the NYC Council Progressive Caucus, NYC Council LGBTQIA+ Caucus, Make the Road NY, New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), African Communities Together, Immigrant Defense Project, The Bronx Defenders, New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Mixteca, Asian American Federation, Mekong NYC, Coalition for the Homeless, Workers Justice Project, Literary Assistance Center, Human Services Council, STOP (Surveillance Technology Oversight Project), New York Doctors Coalition, La Colmena, Chinese Planning Council, Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center, We Are Afghans, and Families for Freedom. Collectively, they feared a mass deportation agenda of about three million people in the city and fruitlessly called on Adams to uphold the city’s existing sanctuary laws.
“NYC has always been an immigrant city — we benefit greatly from the economic and cultural contributions of our diverse and vibrant communities—and yet, our Mayor is not willing to uphold our longstanding protections for those New Yorkers,” said Avilés. “Let’s be clear: any threat to our immigrant population of three million New Yorkers is a threat to every working-class person in NYC, as mass deportations threaten our economy, tax revenue, and local businesses.”
“This anti-immigrant rhetoric spewed by Mayor Adams, these tired, archaic, and cruel criminalization tropes, is not about making anybody safer. They are about making him more powerful. He wants to sacrifice us — Black and Brown New Yorkers — so he can cop a plea with Trump,” said Abraham Paulos, deputy director for Black Alliance for Just Immigration. “But we are not lambs for the slaughter. He wants to systematically dismantle the very protections that New Yorkers fought for and that afford all immigrant communities real safety. We demand that this City Council continue to defend New Yorkers from the police-to-deportation pipeline that targets Black immigrant communities with a relentless, devastating force.”
“Attempting to reinterpret the 14th Amendment’s clear guarantee of Birthright Citizenship is unconstitutional and would harm — not help — immigrants fully contributing to this country,” said FWD.us President Todd Schulte.
Trump’s executive orders have kicked off a slew of lawsuits.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that she and a coalition of 18 states are challenging Trump’s orders to end birthright citizenship as a violation of the constitution. They filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The states also requested a preliminary injunction filed with the court to prevent the order from going through.
“This fundamental right to birthright citizenship, rooted in the 14th Amendment and born from the ashes of slavery, is a cornerstone of our nation’s commitment to justice. Our constitution is not open to reinterpretation by executive order or presidential decree,” said James in a statement.
Separately, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Hampshire, ACLU of Maine, ACLU of Massachusetts, Asian Law Caucus, State Democracy Defenders Fund, and Legal Defense Fund (LDF) on behalf of organizations like the New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and Make the Road New York, also filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on the basis that his executive order flouts Constitution and the Supreme Court precedent.
“Denying citizenship to U.S.-born children is not only unconstitutional — it’s also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values. Birthright citizenship is part of what makes the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is,” said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU. “This order seeks to repeat one of the gravest errors in American history, by creating a permanent subclass of people born in the U.S. who are denied full rights as Americans. We will not let this attack on newborns and future generations of Americans go unchallenged.”
Karla McKanders, director of LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute, added that: “From the 1790 Naturalization Act to the infamous Dred Scott decision, U.S. citizenship has long been shaped to uphold racial hierarchy. By sidestepping the constitutional amendment process, this executive order attempts to unilaterally rewrite the 14th Amendment — an essential Reconstruction-era measure that granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S., including formerly enslaved people. This action seeks to resurrect a racialized notion of who is American in opposition to LDF’s commitment working towards a multi-racial democracy.”
