Published: April 22, 2008 10:09 pm            

‘Hot Sauce’ coming to town

BLUEFIELD — If burned when eating something that contains hot sauce, the only proven way to quickly alleviate the pain is to consume dairy products. That is why it might be a good idea to bring some ice cream to the Bluefield Auditorium Saturday night.

On Saturday the Hustle Up Streetball Tour will return for its second-annual visit to Bluefield and this year the featured attraction is the player that redefined the streetball genre and is widely considered the best streetball player on the blacktop today — Philip “Hot Sauce” Champion.

In a few short years, Hot Sauce revolutionized streetball as an art form with his amazing ball handling skills and helped make it marketable to the masses.

“Hot Sauce came at a time where they needed another guard that can do those type of tricks and really sell the tricks,” said Hustle Up promoter Tasheem Hayes. “And that’s what Hot Sauce came to do.”

Born in Fort Campbell, Ky., Champion moved with his family to Jacksonville as a little boy. His parents broke up at an early age and he spent time with his father in Fort Benning, Ga. and mother in Jacksonville.

Once Champion finished his obligations in Jacksonville, he moved to Atlanta and stayed with a good friend for two years. It was a decision that changed his life forever.

“Every day he was taking me to the gym ’cause that’s where we were doing Job Corps,” Champion recalled. “Every day he’d take me to a gym called Run N’ Shoot. We’d play ball every day at Run N’ Shoot and I eventually got good and I was working on my craft.”

His craft was dribbling. And he did it every spare moment he had.

“I used to always...dribble in front of cars that was parked. And on the side, the glare of the car has got a reflection,” Champion said. “And I used to dribble in front of that and used to go to the Run-N-Shoot every day.

“When you walk in there’s a big mirror right there. And while everybody’s playing I’m in front of that mirror just dribbling, dribbling. I didn’t care who was watching me. It didn’t matter who it was, I was just there dribbling, dribbling, dribbling, dribbling, dribbling, dribbling — not knowing that was practice.”

Actually, it was the foundation for the talent and skill that would bring him fame and fortune.

“I would be over at the gym dribbling my head off. Just doing crazy moves in front of the mirror, just dribbling like crazy,” Champion said. “And here comes this style of basketball type tour that’s come around.

“You can do what you want to do. You can be yourself. I found out it was O.K. to be you and I was out there being me, doing me, being myself. And I essentially created my own character and it blew up from doing that.”

The tour was organized by the sneaker company And 1. The basketball-specific brand had gained attention by marketing a mixtape featuring a young Rafer Alston — also known as Skip To My Lou.

It was a five-city tour organized in 1999 comprised mainly of players who had made a name at New York City’s legendary Rucker Park. They were searching for more players at the time.

Champion had just finished playing at a small community college when And 1 came calling. Hot Sauce was born.

“The announcer, he said my name,” Champion remembered from his first game. “Nobody knew who I was so ain’t nobody clapping. They were clapping out of appreciation of the game. I probably got three claps out of the crowd.

“But when I got out on the floor, I did my thing for like five minutes. The crowd went crazy when I did a couple moves that they’d never seen before. After that, every time I touched the ball they would stand up and see what else I would do.”

That night following the game, And 1 signed Champion to a contract and Hot Sauce starred in the company’s next mixtape. Soon he was a celebrity, his name brought to a wider audience when ESPN aired the first season of “Streetball: The And 1 Mixtape Tour”.

Viewers met the dribbling artist that coined names for all his signature moves.

“Nobody never named their moves,” Champion said. “After I started naming my moves you’ve got the whole world naming their moves. Actually you’ve got guys...that are more creative than me. I’m just original.”

In 2006, Champion broke into movies with a starring role in “Crossover” — a sign that Hot Sauce and streetball had finally gone mainstream. His college coach used to call him a hot dog. Now coaches everywhere are using the mixtapes to teach ball handling to a new generation.

“I talked to my coach from the old school, the college I went to,” Champion said. “He was like, ‘That’s a perfect type of basketball for you.’ He said if that tour would have came around and he’d never had seen me on it, he said he wouldn’t be talking about me today.”

After years with And 1, Champion is slowing down. He is the father of a three-year old boy that could grow up to be an elite athlete himself.

“He’s fast,” Champion said. “You let go of his hand, he’s running. And I have to chase him ’cause once he makes it into one of the aisles, there’s no telling where it’s going to end. He knows what he’s doing, too.”

Hot Sauce is accessible. No autograph will be left unsigned and no fan will be left disappointed. But for Champion, the best fans are the new ones he makes at every stop.

“You never know who’s out there watching me. There’s always two people in that crowd that have never seen you, never in life. You don’t want to be terrible or having bad games and they’ll be like, ‘Awww.’ It’s different for the new fans.”

But according to Champion, there is only one person who will have the best seat in the house for the ballhandling show Hot Sauce can put on — the person trying to guard him.

“I don’t care where you go,” Champion said. “If you go to India, there’s an Indian Hot Sauce. You go to Africa, there’s going to be an African Hot Sauce. You go to Texas, there’s going to be Texas Pete. You go to Germany, you’re going to get the German Hot Sauce. There’s a little Hot Sauce in every city.

“Every city, there’s always a No. 1 player,” Champion said. “Guess what? Their No. 1 player is going to turn into their No. 2 player by the time I leave that city. So Bluefield, here I come.”

Hot Sauce and the Streetball Legends will play the West Virginia All-Stars on Saturday at the Bluefield Recreation Center at 7 p.m.

For ticket information, call (304) 327-2448.

— Contact Jed Lockett

at jlockett@bdtonline.com

        

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