Alfred Banks, 16, grew up on Marango­­ and Valance, 12th Ward. Interviewed and photographed at the court at the intersection of Magazine Street and Napoleon Avenue. He was shooting by himself when we arrived. It was a cold cloudy afternoon, the court was empty except for Alfred.

This court is my Zen Station. 
When I am playing a game, my mind is mostly on being the best I can be. I model my style after Allen Iverson, one of the most proficient dribblers in the NBA. I’m just trying to get to the hole, but my mind state is relaxed, I’m not really here when I’m playing basketball. 

In 9th grade, right before the storm, I wanted to be a basketball player, it was my dream, it was all I wanted to do, all day, every day. And then Katrina hit and I was more focused on living than playing basketball. And when I came back here, it was a new beginning for me, I had what I call my rebirth. I cleaned out my brain. Now it’s just therapy. 

Basketball is therapy. 

A lot of times I have aggression in my life. And just dribbling the ball makes it go away. Dribbling, shooting, working on my left hand, it helps me just get through to the next day. It’s an escape. I try to play almost every day. 

When I walk on the court I’m confronted with a lot problems, school, life, my girl, when I get on the court its just dribbling, my Zen station, my therapy and, afterwards, I’m refreshed, sweaty, but refreshed.

I fell in love with the game in 1997. I was six years old, my older brother had just come home from the marines and I hadn’t seen him in a couple years and he wanted to play basketball with me. I had a plastic goal set up in the back yard. He was like you don’t have to dunk all the time, he taught me how to have my range, and now I have relatively long range. My middle brother taught me how to dribble and the basic fundamentals and from that point on I have loved basketball. Basketball is family. My brothers are some of the most vital points in my life. They taught me how to be a man. They taught me how to rap, how to be normal, how to be myself, and not to worry what other people think, just to be myself. 

Interview by Will Steacy

All photos courtesy of -Wyatt Gallery
For more information on Converse, go to converse.com

For information on Converse's Open Gym, click here!