The AND1 Live Tour, formerly known as the AND1 Mixtape Tour, is a traveling

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

competition and exhibition presented by B-Ball and Company and the basketball apparel manufacturer AND1. A group of streetball players, along with Emcee Rell and B-Ball and Company CEO Linda Hill, travel from town to town and challenge teams composed of local talent. Games tend to be characterized by isolation one-on-one ball handling moves and acrobatic

slam dunk A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one ...

s and

alley-oop An alley-oop in basketball is an offensive play in which one player throws the ball near the basket to a teammate who jumps, catches the ball in mid-air and dunks or lays it in before touching the ground. The alley-oop combines elements of team ...

s. The tour was televised in half-hour "Streetball" segments on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

, and were compiled into highlight reels, offered under the mark AND1 Mixtape, which were sold on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

. AND1 has released 10 volumes. The first mixtape was ''AND1 Mixtape Volume 1'' (1998) and the most recent is ''AND1 Mixtape X'' (2008). The AND1 team has toured the world, meeting success against most international teams and scoring wins over adversaries from places as diverse as Chile and Angola, remaining undefeated outside the continental United States until they lost to the debuting Puerto Rico Streetballers in 2012.

Controversy

AND1's calling card and large reason for success are the flashy moves that rely on a more lenient set of rules than in regulation basketball. This has led to comparisons with the Harlem Globetrotters and has caused some journalists to criticize the tour. Supporters of the tour have responded by backing up AND1's credibility and the players' legitimate skill. The AND1 players maintain that they are serious basketball players who play against the seven best local players from each city. Many of the current and former AND1 Mixtape Tour players have played in college and in professional organizations such as the CBL, ABA,

NBDL The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

, NBA or overseas.

AND1 Live Streetballers

Official MC of the Tour: Emcee Rell * Robin Kennedy Jr. a.k.a Sik Wit It from Pasadena, California *

Philip Champion Philip Champion (born June 13, 1976 in Fort Campbell, KY and raised in Jacksonville, FL) also known as Hot Sauce, is an American former professional basketball player who has played on the Streetball AND1 Mixtape Tour from its creation in 2002 ...

a.k.a. Hot Sauce from

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

* Antony Heyward Jr. a.k.a. 1/2 Man 1/2 Amazing from

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

* Troy Jackson a.k.a. Escalade from

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

* Dennis Chism a.k.a. Spyda from

Waliyy Dixon Waliyy Dixon (born February 7, 1974), better known by his streetball nickname "Main Event", is an American professional basketball player. He was born and raised in Linden, New Jersey. Early life Dixon spent his youth honing his streetball skills ...

a.k.a. Main Event from Linden, New Jersey * Jerome Holman a.k.a. Circus from

* Robert Martin a.k.a. 50 from

. Cousin of NBA player Kenyon Martin * Brandon LaCue a.k.a. Werm from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida * David Gabriel a.k.a. Big Dave from Port Saint Lucie, Florida * Hugh Jones a.k.a. Baby Shack from

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

* Marvin Collins a.k.a. Highrizer from

* Paul Otim a.k.a. Polo from

* Guy Dupuy a.k.a. Easy J from Nice, France * Grayson Boucher a.k.a. The Professor from

Keizer, Oregon Keizer () is a city located in Marion County, Oregon, United States, along the 45th parallel. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 36,478. It lies in the Willamette Valley, and is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...

* Rafer Alston a.k.a. Skip to my Lou, from Bronx, New York. * Shane Woney a.k.a. The Dribbling Machine from Bronx, New York *

Larry Williams Larry Williams (born Lawrence Eugene Williams, a.k.a. Lawrence Edward Williams; May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Williams ...

a.k.a. The Bone Collector from

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

* Taurian Fontenette a.k.a. Air Up There from

Hitchcock, Texas Hitchcock is a city in Galveston County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,961 at the 2010 census. History Hitchcock was created as a station of the railroad between Galveston and Houston in 1873 and around the turn of the 20th century ...

Aaron Owens Aaron Owens (born March 20, 1974), better known by his nickname "AO", is an American streetball player from North Philadelphia. In 2013, Owens participated in the Ball4Real World Tour. He was on the AND1 Mixtape Tour from its creation until 200 ...

a.k.a. AO from

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

* Tyrone Evans a.k.a. Alimoe * Andre Poole a.k.a Silk * Tim Gittens a.k.a Headache

AND1 Mixtape Volumes

*''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 1'' – The "Skip Mixtape", mainly focused on Rafer Alston. *''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 2'' – All games on this tape were filmed in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and Linden, New Jersey. *''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 3'' – This tape was given to people who bought a pair of AND1 shoes. *''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 4'' – Volume 4 was the first tape documenting the AND1 Mixtape Tour, which visited

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Washington D. C. and

. *''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 5'' – Volume 5 was the return of Alston, after he had been playing Division I basketball at

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

for three years. *''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 6'' – Volume 6 toured Los Angeles, Chicago,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, and New York City. *''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 7'' – Every game in this volume was played in NBA arenas, and Grayson Boucher was discovered in the Open Run in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

Open Run. The tape also featured a brief appearance from retired basketball player Shaquille O'Neal. *''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 8: Back on the Block'' – ''Back on the Block'' featured a lot of "Crash the Court" footage, in which the AND1 team plays against local teams in public streetball locations. *''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 9: Area Codes'' – This volume shows the hometown and home court of every member of the AND1 team, including Philadelphia with

and Los Angeles with

Kenny Brunner Kenneth D. Brunner II (born December 8, 1978) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. Brunner played college basketball for the Georgetown Hoyas and the Southern Idaho Golden Eagles. Early life Bruner was born on December ...

. *''AND1 Mixtape X: The United Streets of America'' – ''AND1 Mixtape X'' marked a decade of AND1, with footage from the United Streets Of America tour, which featured former Boston Celtics Player

Carlos Arroyo Carlos Alberto Arroyo Bermúdez (born July 30, 1979) is a Puerto Rican former professional basketball player, and reggaeton singer. Arroyo had previously played in the National Basketball Association with the Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, ...

. Additional AND1 Mixtape Volumes *''AND1 Ball Access: Global Invasion'' – Everything from the courts to the culture in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, and

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

. This was the first And 1 Mix Tape tour overseas adventure. *''AND1 Mixtape Tour: Asia Pacific'' – The '2004 AND 1 Mixtape World Tour' that ended with a comprehensive international visit of the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

and

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

in November. A compilation footage of the journey from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

to Sydney. Includes previously unreleased tracks from Paul Wall, Mike Jones, Sam Scarfo, Clipse, Dipset featuring JR Writer, and Kanecc. *''AND1 Ball Access: The Mixtape Tour'' – A documentary that highlights the 2002 And1 Mix Tape Tour. Get on the bus for a behind the scenes look at the action on and off the court as it rolls through

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, New York,

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

and the rest of the summer's Mix Tape Tour cities. It's an all access pass into life on the Tour as the Players show how their creativity, flair and attitude isn't limited to what they can do on the court.

References

External links

AND1 HomepageAND1 LIVE Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:AND1 Mixtape AND1 Basketball organizations Recurring sporting events established in 1998 Streetball