Just what the doctor ordered.
NBA legend Julius “Dr. J” Erving is executive-producing an upcoming TV series based on the bestseller by New York Times writer, Vincent M. Mallozzi, “Asphalt Gods,” Page Six has exclusively learned.
There’s buzz that the show is getting the attention of major production companies.
The scripted project — being repped by JoAnne Colonna of Brillstein Entertainment Partners — takes an in-depth look at some of the legendary players who honed their skills at Rucker Park — the uptown mecca of basketball in NYC.
Wilt Chamberlain, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Willis Reed, Joe “The Destroyer” Hammond — and many others — will have their stories told, we hear.
Along with Dr. J, executive producers also include Charles Messina and Jill Menza of Broadway-bound musical Dion biopic “The Wanderer,” and Barry Bookhard and Jules Feiler.
The book “Asphalt Gods: An Oral History of the Rucker Tournament” was first published in 2003.
The book “Asphalt Gods: An Oral History of the Rucker Tournament” could be headed to TV screens as a series.Rucker Park basketball was also the subject of a 2020 exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York, called “City/Game: Basketball in New York.”
The Post wrote of Rucker’s legendary scene in a piece coinciding with the museum show that even former Knicks great Walt “Clyde” Frazier — who grew up in Atlanta — took his talent to the wildly competitive courts while he was playing as a pro, and that he likened the Rucker experience to “being a gunslinger in the Old West.'”
Famed Rucker Park, where some NBA greats got their starts. Getty ImagesMallozzi told The Post at the time, “[Frazier] said that when he played those games, he didn’t know what he’d be in for… There was pushing, trash-talking, taking four steps to the rim. Everyone looked the other way as long as the dunk was good.”
Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury and more have also been known to show up at the park while working in the NBA to test their mettle.
