Swee'pea: The Story of Lloyd Daniels and Other Playground Basketball Legends

John Valenti · Ron Naclerio

Jul 2016 · Highbridge Audio · Narrated by Mirron Willis

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13 hr 51 min

Unabridged

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About this audiobook

Lloyd Daniels learned to hoop on the playgrounds of Brooklyn and Queens during the 1980s. “Swee'pea” they called him. His rep on the court traveled all the way to the Bronx, and across the country, earning him enthusiastic comparisons to the likes of Magic Johnson. Swee'pea was sure to make it to the big time and out of a New York City where drugs and violence had gripped many of its neighborhoods. Eventually he did, leaving the city's asphalt courts for the shiny hardwoods of NCAA programs, minor pro-leagues, and eventually the NBA. He took with him, however, a drug habit, a learning disability, and a reputation for self-destruction.

With Swee'pea, Newsday reporter John Valenti and celebrated New York City high school basketball coach Ron Naclerio brilliantly capture how an athletic phenomenon becomes both a product of his environment, and his own worst enemy. Supplementing Daniels' enigmatic story are profiles of basketball successes like former NBA stars Kenny Anderson, John Salley, and Mark Jackson—and tragedies like Earl “The Goat” Manigault, Richie Adams, and Tony “Red” Bruin—who never made the league.

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About the author

John Valenti is an award winning and nine-time Pulitzer-nominated reporter, having worked over three decades for Newsday. He had a featured role in the Emmy Award-winning 2013 ESPN 30-for-30 documentary Big Shot. Valenti lives with his family in Elmhurst, New York.

Ron Naclerio is the winningest high school basketball coach in New York City having led the Cordozo High School basketball team in Queens, New York since 1981. A former baseball prospect at St. John's University, he played outfield on a team that went to the 1978 NCAA College World Series.

Prolific audiobook narrator Mirron Willis has won several AudioFile Earphones Awards and an Audie Award. An accomplished actor, he has appeared on stage, in films, and on television. His many theater credits include roles in Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, Knock Me a Kiss, and A Raisin in the Sun.

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