The Inimitable Rodney Parker

by Joseph Vecsey Everyone knew Rodney Parker. That’s what his nephew Torin Archbold remembers about their relationship.  Everyone from Rick Pitino to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar showed Rodney respect and knew he was an excellent judge of talent. Rodney James Parker helped hundreds of kids get into schools to play basketball. Anyone who really followed New York playground basketball from the ’70s-’90s, or went to tournaments and leagues during the summer, knew who Rodney was and what he did for others. What’s more, if you ever bought sports tickets off the street, particularly outside of Madison Square Garden, then you might have known Rodney from that world as well. Rodney was a ticket scalper by trade, but his passion was helping young kids who had the potential to play basketball at the next level but wouldn’t necessarily get the opportunity.  He always said, “I do it because I can.” It was somewhat of a compulsion to help kids after he had a tough childhood,...