By: Tommy Swisher

Los Angeles resident by way of East St. Louis artist Tommy Swisher has released a dope single titled “Heart Away.” This single has already generated 26K plays on Spotify and counting. As he is preparing for his new project It’s About Time 2 this Summer, this release is right on time. Having performed this year on Fox Soul in Los Angles during the Tammie Mac Late Night Show this emcee has what it takes to make it big time. Also Tommy surpassed 1 million streams on Spotify for his hit single ‘Fall For Me,’ that’s produced by Grammy Award winning producer Jim Jonsin.

As Swisher has a vast love for the game of basketball, this release is a play on the last name of NBA Legend Penny Hardaway. Tommy stated “This song is about craving financial stability, as I’m sure we all do, not only for ourselves but for the ones who depend on us. It’s also about staying focused while your grinding & not letting lust & wants slow you down.” Great topic if you ask me. The hook is really great & I love when it gets to “Ball Harder just like Hardaway”.

As Penny Hardaway is NBA royalty, this is a great way to pay homage to one of Swisher’s favorite athletes. The raw melody paired with the East St. Louis original tone of voice is a match made in heaven. If you enjoy good music, you will fall in love with the musical styles of Tommy Swisher.

Press play below to stream his newest single below.

The post Tommy Swisher Releases “Heart Away” Single appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Former Orlando Magic guard Darrell Armstrong talks about playing career, Tracy McGrady and Penny Hardaway on Scoop B Radio. Photo Credit: Outside The Hype

Click Here To Check Out Darrell Armstrong, the NBA’s 6th Man of the Year and Most Improved Player of the Year With the Orlando Magic Who Checked in With Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson & Scoop B Radio.

Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Darrell Armstrong has one of the diverse and impressive basketball portfolios out there.

Winning a ring as an assistant coach with the  2011 NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks, Armstrong’s accolades as a professional from 1991-2008 as a player were surely something to write home about.

Going undrafted out of Fayetteville State in 1991, Armstrong got his first gnaw at the NBA during the 1994–95 season where he played the last 3 games of the regular season for the Orlando Magic. While he manned the court as a floor general, Armstrong wowed the crowd and Magic management with his scoring ability.

As a member of the Magic, Armstrong simultaneously won the NBA’s Most Improved Player of the Award and the league’s Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1999. “After being in the league for three years, still on waiting on the opportunity and the chance,” Armstrong told me on Scoop B Radio.

“Putting in so much work, you know; to not only be a better player,  not only shooting the basketball, but also getting stronger in the weight room, helping me to be quicker and faster and stronger all those things adds up to one.”

 

 

Darrell Armstrong during Orlando Magic days. Photo Credit: Alchetron

Armstrong would end up sticking with the Magic through the 2003 season.

I first interviewed Armstrong when I was a Nets kid reporter and he was a member of the Orlando Magic during the 1997-98 NBA season.

Then and now, a few things stood out to me about him:

a). At 6 feet tall, he probably had the most hops imaginable for someone his size.

b). He’s a huge gospel music fan, with Fred Hammond and Kirk Franklin at the top of his list of his faves.

c). During his tenure with the Orlando Magic, Armstrong has had the distinction of being teammates with two of the most transcendent guards in the NBA not named Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Armstrong teammed with both Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway and Tracy McGrady.

With McGrady being inducted into Springfield, Massachusetts’ Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend, one can’t help but think about the excitement that was T-Mac, the scoring machine in the city that Walt Disney built.

Armstrong and T-Mac were on a team that included Grant Hill and coached by Doc Rivers and were supposed to make noise in the NBA’s Eastern Conference in the early 2000s. Grant Hill was starting at the point guard, Armstrong slid to the two-guard with McGrady staring at the 3 alongside Drew Gooden and John Amaechi at the 4 and 5, respectively.

That squad was loaded! Heck, Mike Miller came off the bench!

Man that team was potent, but Grant Hill couldn’t stay healthy. That is when Tracy McGrady took over with his scoring galore! “Tracy was very special,” said Armstrong. I’m fortunate enough to have that opportunity to wear that jersey; the Magic jersey alongside him and Penny. You know, I’m fortunate to be their teammate because, I mean every night you got the chance to see some type of greatness, some type of unbelievable scoring from both of them.”

Tracy McGrady. Photo Credit: NBA.com

Added Armstrong:

“With T-Mac, a lot of people don’t know or would know that T-Mac was a decent player when he left Toronto and he got the opportunity with that one playoff game where they played New York and Vince was being covered so much by all the guys on New York that T Mac started to get off. And people started to see T-Mac’s talent during the playoffs that year. That is when we went and got him and that is when he came to the Magic that next year and what he did from there was just amazing because that is what he was suppose to be doing when he got to Toronto. But it didn’t happen like that for his first two years and then people started to say: ‘okay this is what they were talking about.’ And he put in the work and he dedicated himself everyday when he got into the game that he was going to be one of the top players in the league and he did it. It was fun to see him and Kobe Bryant go at each other, Michael Jordan go at each other.  I was just amazed by it, the things that he could do. But he was something special.”

In 938 games, McGrady averaged 19.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists. In 704 games, Penny Hardaway posted 15.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5 assists.

So who was the better player? Tracy McGrady or Penny Hardaway? “Both of them could play defense and both of them could score,” said Armstrong.

“Definitely Penny was the better passer because  Penny was a point guard. Mac could still pass the ball as well, that is hard to say Scoop. They both did it in their own way and in their own style; the only thing I will say, that Penny was better than T-Mac was passing the basketball. Like I said, they both could shoot the basketball, they both could score the basketball, that is a tough one to say. Penny went deeper in the playoffs,farther than T-Mac has ever been; besides being with T-Mac with Spurs, but he didn’t play. But when he played, you know Penny and he in the playoffs, Penny, you know Penny lost in the championship as a starter. So I mean it is hard to say if there is any edge the edge I give to Penny over T-Mac is that he was a better passer than he was.”

Fair enough.

Darrell Armstrong is one of the Dallas Mavericks’ assistant coaches. Photo Credit: Dallas Mavericks

Armstrong is an assistant coach of the Dallas Mavericks. In a game of shoulda-coulda-woulda, if he were currently an NBA head coach, who would he pick to start his team in today’s NBA? “Damn Scoop, once again you give me another tough one,” said Armstrong.

“I say: oh man you can’t go wrong with either one of them. Penny played a one and T-Mac played a two. So that is why I say it is so different. S**t Scoop, I would probably take Penny because the reason I say I take Penny is because Penny would be ready to run the offense as a point guard, knows how to play the point, but also you can just knock the ball with two points. Mac wasn’t a point guard. T-Mac never ran the point guard, so T Mac was more of the two/three player. I would probably have to say Penny I have a bigger guard that would cause a problem at the point guard position because he would be different.”

In addition to talking about T-Mac and Penny Hardaway, Armstrong also chatted about his time playing at a historically black college in Fayetteville State. “I was playing because of the tradition of so many people knowing and so many athletes from the Charles Oakley to Earl ‘The Pearl’ Monroe to Rick Mahorn,” he said. “And you know now, even Stephen A [Smith] played  for Winston Salem State. Ben Wallace and myself, so it was amazing with the athletes and the fans always love to hear the Black National Anthem [Lift Every Voice And Sing] whenever they sang it”

Armstrong even weighed in on the notion Tim Duncan would join he, T-Mac, and Grant Hill in Orlando via free agency, summer 2000.

Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady signed with the Orlando Magic during free agency in 2000. Photo Credit: Orlando Magic

According to Armstrong, the probabilities of Duncan coming to Orlando were zilch, zip, zero, stingy with the dinero. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich thought it was for real though! “It was a nerve-wrecking time,” Popovich admitted in an interview. (H/T CBS Sports’ Matt Moore)

Added Popovich:

“It was hell. You get close to a player and you don’t want to see him leave. I never let myself believe he was going to stay. I was just getting myself prepared, for sanity reasons. It’s no fun.”

“It also seems like it takes forever to resolve. That’s the worst part of it. We made our pitch to him and let him be, let him make up his own mind.”

Darrell Armstrong tells a different story on Scoop B Radio: “Tim wasn’t going nowhere,” he said.

“I mean where Tim played at and finished at, that was where Tim was going to be. Tim wasn’t going to go nowhere. We all love to entertain and see who is going to be out there. I don’t even believe he even thought about leaving San Antonio especially after winning some Championships. So I mean, no he wasn’t going anywhere. Sometimes you call the guys when free agency starts and you call them and talk to guys and they wanted me to call and I was sitting there like I am not you shouldn’t even call this guy he isn’t leaving.”

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The post Former Orlando Magic 6th Man of The Year Darrell Armstrong Says He’d Pick Penny Hardaway Over Tracy McGrady If He Were Starting An NBA Team   appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

The Golden State Warriors hold a 3-1 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2017 NBA Finals. Photo Credit: The Huffington Post

The Cleveland Cavaliers avoided a sweep in the NBA Finals Friday night, beating the Golden State Warriors 137 -116. The Cavs handed the Golden State Warriors their first loss of the postseason and the Warriors still hold a 3-1 lead in the series.

With the NBA Finals prolongoing to a game 5 after the heroics of the Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving’s 40 points and LeBron James’ triple double in game 4, the scene shifts back to Oakland, where the Warriors won the first two games of the series.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving, his dad, Drederick Irving & sports and entertainment journalist Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson. Photo Credit: Will Robertson

Earlier this week, I checked in with DJ Tarzan and Cliff Po on the Henny & Redbull Podcast, to talk about the NBA Finals, LeBron James’ Michael Jordan comparisons and more.

Check Out The Conversation With RESPECT Magazine’s Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson and The Henny & Redbull Podcast.

The NBA Finals resumes Monday with Game 5 in Oakland.

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The post Scoop B: NBA Finals, Kevin Durant & LeBron James On Cliff Po & DJ Tarzan’s Henny & Redbull Podcast appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

While the basketball world reacted to Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith’s belief that the ’94 Houston Rockets would defeat the Bulls (H/T Dime/Uproxx’s Oliver Maroney) had Michael Jordan not retired and Scottie Pippen’s response to it, there was something lost in the traslation: The Jet admired the 90’s Orlando Magic. 

That Magic team was special: Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway, Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott were young, tough and one of the Eastern Conference’s biggest threats not named the New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls.

Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith thinks so too! Smith, who suited up against the Orlando Magic in the 1995 Finals as a member of the Rockets saw potential in that young team.

“You know, anytime you have a guard and a big man it’s the perfect balance,”  he told me on Scoop B Radio.

“They had the perfect balance and you had Penny who was so versatile that he could play inside, outside,” said Smith.  “And you had Shaq with everything that he’s done and being so young. That was the dynasty missed; dynasty missed by the Orlando Magic, for sure.”

After a brief run with the Magic, Shaq realized his worth and signed a mega contract via free agency with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was the center of the future and he, Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson would rule the NBA and the Western Conference in the early 2000s.

Check out the interview with Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson below (the chat about the Orlando Magic begins at the 5:22 mark). 

O’Neal ended up with the better career, winning multiple rings with the Lakers and then with the Miami Heat. Hardaway wasn’t as lucky. After O’Neal’s departure, he’d be the team’s lone star, but struggled with a devastating injury that cut short his promising career. After his time with the Magic, he’d bounce around the league playing for the Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks and Miami Heat before retiring in 2007.

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The post Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith Believes Shaq and Penny Orlando Magic Was: ‘dynasty missed’ appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

TNT’s Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith chats with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson about everything on Scoop B Radio. Photo Credit: Angie Vasquez

TNT’s Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith has one of the coolest jobs in the world. He talks about probably one of his favorite topics in the world: basketball.

The NBA veteran and two-time NBA champion as a member of the Houston Rockets teams with Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley and gives his expert analysis on all 30 NBA teams and more. On Scoop B Radio Overtime, the Jet and I talked about a range of topics including his North Carolina teamate, Michael Jordan and even his taste in fashion.

Yo Jet, tell me about those suits! You’ve been pretty dapper throughout the playoffs! 

“Well for me my sister had been in fashion for a long time,” he told me. “She was a buyer for Nordstrom, she was a buyer for a lot of stores, Macy’s, and men’s department stores all kinds of things. She always would tell me how: ‘oh you can’t wear that color with this, you gotta wear darks on the outside.‘ She would tell me these things and it would go in one ear and right out the other until I got older I would shop like that and then she would be like: “oh you were listening? So I gotta credit my sister and my dad for that style sense.

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The post TNT’s Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith Talks Fashion, Hoops & More On Scoop B Radio Overtime appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Saturday and Sunday’s are locked and loaded with the success of Sirius XM’s Bottom Line Sports Show.

Heard worldwide on Sirius XM’s NBA Radio, the show literally marries the world of athletes and their fans. It also helps that it has the creative producing genius of NBA legends Charles Oakley and Anfernee ‘Penny’ Hardaway.

Hosted by Gerald Brown and Howard ‘Howie C’ Cowart, the show is more of a steady conversation without the nuts and bolts and nitty gritty. Deion Sanders, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Scottie Pippen and Nas are notable guests on the shows platform.

“They’re very knowledgable and they speak the truth,” Penny Hardaway told me. “They don’t try to hammer anybody and gauge guys and make guys feel like less than what they are. It’s barbershop talk for real.”

“Our show is not scripted,” said show host Howard ‘Howie C’ Cowart.

“We’re the everyday fan.”

Check Out Gerald Brown and Howie C From The Bottom Line Sports Show Checking In On Scoop B Radio 

Although Bottom Line Sports Show has the backing of Oakley and Hardaway, its early days did not begin with the amenities of Sirius XM Radio. In fact, it began in the basement of Gerald Brown’s northern New Jersey home. It also helps that Brown had viable connections going in. A former Knicks ball boy, he drew from his rolodex and began booking solid guests.

Brown felt the need to start the show because of the disconnect he notices between athletes and journalists. “We started asking questions that we as fans wanted to know as opposed to the mundane questions from journalists,” Brown said on a recent episode of the Scoop B Radio Podcast.

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The post Penny Hardaway & Charles Oakley’s Bottom Line Sports Show Making Waves On Sirius XM NBA Radio appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.