jim carroll on basketball in nyc 1/18/91 cleveland ohio

Recorded January 18, 1991 at Babylon A Go-Go in Cleveland Ohio, JIM CARROLL talks about basketball in New York City during his playing days. This interview was conducted for my local access cable show EYE SEE MUSIC.

[@jjmalone1966]

Great encapsulation of the NYC basketball history during Jims youth. He's got a fabulous memory for detail.

[@ulrap1202]

I love hearing him talk about his basketball days....there is not that much of this out there in interviews...

[@derekkelley7490]

This is the best Baketball interview I've ever seen.

[@rjplamf61]

Jim dropping a lot of hoop legends from old school NYC. Gotta love it.

[@Wheresnorth4romhere]

its a great film. great poet.great man. he died while me and some friends were doing a poetry session in our city. R.I.P Jim

[@MrDanty64]

Thank you for getting my back. I'd love to hear more about this. All I was trying to present was that Kids in its motions and its pace and general feel was closer to the Diaries. I am of a mind to see the Diaries again, as well as Kids. Yes I admit anything that takes place in NYC in the 1960s doesn't have to be done in B/W but you lose a good amount of authenticity if you don't.

[@IrishCultura]

Nice guy. Great writer. Great athlete. Heavy dose of concupiscence.

[@TheBsk5150]

I've met him before after a reading - very nice guy.

[@giannifriendly5600]

My age. Saw him w a poetry tour a couple years before passed away. Like a red headed brother I didn’t know I had. Gone too soon.

[@MathiasKure]

Just watched that movie for the 5. time, thanks for pointing that out paulieh24, i didn`t know that...

[@MrOldheadtom]

Salah El-Din Kure its Sunday right now 8 yrs later from this post . you should watch it for the 6th time tonight

[@zshar10]

Super cool dude.

[@danandersen813]

Superordinary junkie.

[@willmorrisusa]

To the person that wonders how 'good' he really was... He was watching an NBA All Star game & he said- "I screwed up, I f🏀cked up, I should of stayed playing ball." "I'm watching the NBA All Star game while I'm writing it ( Forced Entries ) and I'm saying I'm looking at guys that I used to seriously damage, scoring in double figures." He was great, bottom line! All-City & All-American & doing "Serious Damage" in High School & Playground Hoops against guys who became NBA All Stars ! He ain't gonna make that up ! Start listening @ 6:35, jeesh!

[@ericstahl3313]

i watch this from time to time just for that part of the story and then when he talks about CHawkins and you can see him playing the tape back in his mid smiling cuz he was there, you had to be there...

[@willmorrisusa]

@@ericstahl3313 Yes - from what I heard Connie Hawkins had some or most of his best basketball before he played professionaly !

[@MrDanty64]

KIDS by Larry Clark is infinitely closer to the realness and the atmosphere of what Jim was getting at and going through...especially that scene at the end where the dude gets a piece while everyone is sleeping...f'n Epic!!! Epic!! How Dicaprio got that role makes me puke.

[@BalboaBaggins]

what nonsense, have you even seen the movie

[@anthonyfoutch3152]

I'm reading Forced Entries. It would had been great watching Jim in the NBA.

[@robwayne1000]

@JoshNortonalias i just visioned shopping bags full of dope inside that spoon LOL.

[@MilitantMovieBuff]

was the character micky played by mark wahlberg based on a real person? is "Mickey" in the book?

[@waters129]

@MathiasKure You know that movie does not even come close to everything jim went through! and everything he saw in New York. In reality he went through a whole lot more!! the Leonardo di cabrio movie kind of glamorises the whole thing a bit!!!

Exactly. Jim was essentially Telly in the 60's. He wasn't a nice guy. He was a seedy fuck who smoothed talked his way around everyone, only instead of AIDS, he's stricken by heroin addiction. Harmony Korine once claimed Jim Carroll cut his umbilical cord when birthed, bullshit of course but all in admiration.

[@howtoleavetown7]

This was posted a few days after he died..

[@BalboaBaggins]

no, he died in 2009

[@YOUWtv]

That’s when it was posted lol

[@dc82194]

the movie didn't encompass the book very well in my opinion. is there any clips of jim playing ball?

[@andrelebaron]

I wonder how good he was. I don't want to just take his word for it.

[@ulrap1202]

Yeah I wonder. He was recognized as great in high school, and he didn't even give his best his last couple years. No way to know how good he would have been after that.

[@raoulduke344]

@@ulrap1202 IIRC he was all-state in high school, but messed it all up with H

[@jeffreyfaul1784]

wicked

[@zoemills242]

Dan actually jim carroll says himself in an interview he had very little to do with the basketball diaries. The interview is here on KZbin. Make sure your info is correct before you call someone an asshole. There's always another one waiting to correct YOU ;-)

[@zoemills242]

people see what they wanna see. No biggie.

[@MrDanty64]

I don't want to have this become a big debate, I don't want to insult you, as it appears (at least from this) that you don't have the aritstic perspective needed here, but I think that one thing that would have made this easier to deal with was that given that most of the action took place in the early 60s, it should have been done in Black/White. You also say something for yourself when you dismiss Kids like you do.

[@watertractor]

someone count the 'you know' pls

[@Wheresnorth4romhere]

he is in the basketball diaries, he plays a junkie in the drug den tellin a story to leonardo di caprio

[@zshar10]

They wanted to make it back in that era, but they didn't have the budget to do so. That's why you see the blending of decades.

[@Dolgaz]

@dc82194 I agree, I miss the hippie-style in the movie, and the 4-friends-solution is not so good, Jim did have about 100 good friends in ny

[@lildadecounty305]

lol you just don't like DiCaprio for some reason. He does a great job in Basketball Diaries. KIDS is not that great a movie. Just a bunch of debauchery scenes thrown together in a movie. Basketball Diaries actually has a bit of character development and story. Smarten Up

[@АлександрЩипцов-к1с]

Okay, but have you read basketball diaries? It’s exactly “bunch of debauchery scenes thrown together”

[@bmillerdrums]

Dude let him talk... stop interrupting him and finishing his sentences. I'm sure your journalism and interviewing career didn't go too far unless you realized what you were doing bc it is extremely annoying to listen to.. Other than that respect man I wish I could of gotten a chance to talk to the NYC legend like this..

[@eyeamyoureye]

sorry....not a pro, just a fan that had a chance to talk to him

[@lildadecounty305]

lol oh sorry I am dealing with a real artist here lmao. Just cuz the movie took place in the 60s it should have been done in black and white?? that has to be the dumbest comment I have ever heard. Every movie where the setting is before 1960 should be in black and white?? LOL

[@dubbedcrazy]

damn, he would've made a great sportscaster/announcer....(sigh) : (

[@bitemeemetib9505]

one of major mistakes in basketball is that the scenes are from 63/67 and uet u see cars from the 90s, buildi ngs from the 90s a mix of clothes and cultures and scenes from the 60s and then 90s again its just one big mess, u see wtc right in beg but wtc was only finished in 73/74 just a big mess i love the movie its a cult movie but its should had been alot better close to perfection showing heroin new york world of 67/68

[@southpaw817]

How tall was Jim?

[@fukcudave2686]

Paul Capo I think 6 3

[@southpaw817]

Tamara Miller nice, same as me thx.

[@fukcudave2686]

You're Welcome. Yes, Jim was pretty tall. He played basketball a lot in NYC neighborhoods.. and made all star in his private school. He could have made it to the pros.. Yet choose The Arts instead.

[@southpaw817]

Tamara Miller I'm younger, but grew up in NYC as well. And played ball in my younger years :). Dabble in the arts as well, but no where near his level.

[@fukcudave2686]

With B-Ball or The Arts? Hey.. which ever one... At least you made attempts towards The Arts... and even Basketball... some ppl don't even work out or read a book. Jim was truly brilliant at poetry and such,,

[@joelewing4498]

A heroin babble if there ever was one. Sad to see any man or woman with such great talents do this to themselves. RIP Jim. Wish we could find some bball footage of you playing.

[@pizzamachine4193]

He never had the outside shot

[@MrDanty64]

Let's end this. We both don't need this.

[@alsam5441]

[@MrDanty64]

Go get yourself some perspective. Go back and read the book again, go back in time. Then look real hard at DiCaprio. Real hard. Go see Kids. Again. Not lit or on 420 or meth. THINK. Ask yourself, would you really want Di Caprio playin that role? Please. If only a young Caruso (dude from NYPD Blue) was around...

[@roncalabro]

They were originally going to make the movie in the 80s and eric stolt bwas supposed yo play him