"The game is simple one, an act of one man challenging another, twisting, feinting, then perhaps breaking free to leap upward, directing the ball toward a target [. . .] . But its simple motions swirl into intricate patterns, its variations become almost endless [. . .] . To the uninitiated, the patterns may seem fleeting, elusive, even confusing; but on a city playground, a classic play is frozen in the minds of those who see it--a moment of order and achievement in a turbulent, frustrating existence. And a one-on-one challenge takes on wider meaning, defining identity and manhood in an urban society that breeds invisibility."
- From Pete Axthelm's The City Game: Basketball in New York from the World Champion Knicks to the World of the Playgrounds (1970)