By Sindya N. Bhanoo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The guys from Kennedy Playground slipped on their red-and-white jerseys and started doing layups. The sound of basketballs dribbling echoed through the gym.
But one jersey remained unworn, dangling on a hanger from a nail below the scoreboard. Pinned to the jersey, No. 11, was a piece of paper bearing a photo of a smiling young man and words written in black: "Chris Taylor, R.I.P."
Taylor, 19, was shot in the face July 27 and died a few hours later. Police said the shooting occurred over a game of craps.
Some of his teammates said they thought about quitting the league after his death. It all seemed so futile. They were the worst in their league, and Taylor, a shooting guard, was their best player.
But now, they have pledged to keep playing.
"It's not about just us now," said Teoma Jones, 22, the team's coach and a childhood friend. "It's about Chris."
These are the worst of times for the 80 mostly young men in the Tale of the Tape Summer Basketball League. The purpose of the program is to offer a competitive sport in a safe environment. Curtis Mozie, 42, a community organizer who founded the league, has spent most of his adult life working to curb violence in the city. Organized sports is an important tool, he said.
"I try to get them in here to fight it out on the courts instead of the streets," he said.
Mozie said teams often form around neighborhood territories, which he thinks can foster healthy competition.
"I want them to bond but in a positive way," he said.
He started out more than 20 years ago, carrying a video camera around his native Shaw neighborhood, recording friends as they played basketball and socialized.
But soon, he said, he realized that along with friendly pickup games, he was capturing shootings, men bleeding in hospital beds, and sisters and mothers wailing in anguish. He has continued to update his videos over the years, turning the footage into a documentary that he screens at youth events citywide.
The attention he garnered led to a donation last year from National Basketball Association player Chris Webber, but Mozie decided not to spend the money on more videos.
He had gradually come to see the basketball court as a place where young men who otherwise might get into trouble could wage battle in a safe way.
The Tale of the Tape league was born.
Mozie continues to get funding from Webber, as well as brother Dana, who writes theme songs for the NBA. His $8,000 budget covers uniforms, shoes, referee salaries and equipment.
Even before the league officially started last summer, one member, Delonte Marshall, 20, was fatally shot.
Taylor died a few blocks from Kennedy Recreation Center, at Seventh and O streets NW, where the league plays.
The team on which he played calls itself K.D.P., short for Kennedy Playground. The members are childhood friends from the grounds around Kennedy Recreation Center. As kids, they played basketball on the center's outdoor courts and football on the grassy field.
Some said they wanted to quit the league after Taylor died.
Knowing that talk was in the air, Jones called his teammates to a meeting at Kennedy Playground the day after Taylor died.
He told them about a conversation he had with Taylor shortly before he died. The team had lost a game the night before and was 0-3 for the season. Despite the losing steak, Taylor was enthusiastic about the league and eager to get back on the court for the next game.
"He was telling me we got to play harder," Jones told them.
"He is with us playing," Jones said. "He is in our hearts."
The next day, his team played its regular Tuesday game at the rec center. The opposing team was named for Marshall, who had been killed last year two months before the league was launched.
"You gotta watch each other," Jones yelled to his teammates from the sidelines. "Watch out for each other!"
The K.D.P. men lost again, 55-37. Their arms and foreheads dripping with sweat, they shook hands with their opponents.
Mozie said that the league keeps young men engaged but that the city needs to do more for black youths.
"The shooting happened on a quiet Sunday," he said. "I've been telling people we need to keep the rec center open on Sundays and at night."
"Most of these kids are good kids," said Kenny Broadnax, at 43 the oldest member of the league. "It's hard to find jobs, so they start getting into trouble."
Broadnax and the other players were scheduled to gather yesterday for a candlelight vigil at the rec center. Meanwhile, Mozie created a video montage using footage of Taylor playing basketball and hanging out with friends.
"We can bring him back to life for a moment in time," he said.
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