Skip To My Lou — Rafer Alston

Article and Podcast

He moved with long and swift legs and feet. He would swing his arms long with the ball half way behind his back. He could bounce the ball between his legs and behind his back and spin around with the ball and pass it over your head. It’s kind of hard to describe him. Rafer Alston had crazy creative ball handling abilities. He made it hard for you to steal the ball from him because the guys approaching him stood in front of him. From the few clips I saw, I never saw anyone take the ball from him. One of his moves was a skip while dribbling the ball, and that’s why they call him “Skip to My Lou”.

Alston got a chance to play in the NBA. He played for the Milwaukee Bucks. He joined the Toronto Raptors. He joined the Rockets, later Orlando Magic, New Jersey Nets, & then Miami Heat. Alston played for six teams while in the NBA from 1999–2010.

Seeing him as a streetball player was more exciting to me. Alston looked as if he had freedom to do his moves more on the street court. On the NBA court, he played more with the team by sharing the ball, but he still played well.

I want to talk more about “Skip To My Lou” on the street basketball court. Now this is what I saw while Alston was dribbling the ball. When the ball hit the ground, one leg went up. When the ball hit the ground a 2nd time while dribbling, the other leg went up. Alston looked as if he was kicking his legs out. Bounce, leg, bounce, leg, bounce; leg

Do you remember how Muhammad Ali had his own creative move in doing the shuffle in boxing? Well, Rafer Alston had his own creative move in basketball.

I’m Gail Nobles, and it has been a pleasure talking with you today about Rafer Alston.