Athletes - Phillip Champion

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	Athletes - Phillip Champion

Philip Champion (born June 16 1976 in Jacksonville, FL) also known as "Hot Sauce" is an American basketball player who has played on the Streetball AND1 Mix Tape Tour. Champion is Six-foot-one and weighs 160 pounds. He currently plays on the Streetball Invasion Tour. Champion is widely regarded as the most famous streetball player after Rafer Alston a.k.a. Skip to My Lou.

Biography

Originally from Jacksonville, FL, Champion spent the majority of his youth in Columbus, Ga. After high school he found himself in Atlanta, jobless, and having only a vague notion of what he’d like to do for a living. He found life at Run N’ Shoot, spending long hours in pick-up games and solitary practices, developing ball-handling skills that would one day bring him fame and fortune.

Champion and his manager Mark Edwards met at Run N’ Shoot nearly in 1999 and the two formed a friendship. Then, a few years ago, Champion violated the terms of his probation and because he could not pay the $755 fine issued by the judge, found himself in jail. In the meantime Edwards, who had begun aggresively promoting Champions’s game, was contacted by AND 1, which wanted to arrange for Champion to participate in some of the organized games they were holding on outdoor courts. Edwards went back to Run N’ Shoot, unaware that Champion had been incarcerated. After learning of Champion's predicament through a mutual friend, Edwards, an attorney, arranged to pay his fine and was headed to Los Angeles, CA and the AND 1 game. Champion joined the AND 1 team in the summer of 2000.

On the Court

Hot Sauce is known for his many ball-handling tricks. Some of his famous moves include the following:

The Boomerang-This is regarded as Champion's signature move. He begins by pretending to throw a one-handed pass past over a defender's shoulder. However the ball rises straight in the air and returns to him while the defender turns his head to look for the ball.

The Hypnotizer-Champion crouches down low with his defender in front of him and dribbles the ball behind his back, switching the ball from hand to hand. He then throws the ball over his defender and pretends to continue dribbling. He then runs past the defender retrives the ball and continues dribbbling.

The Flintsone Shuffle-With a defender close to him, Champion dribbles the ball behind their foot and bounces it vertically five to six feet in the air. As the ball is in the air, Champion runs a few paces to the other side of the defender as if he were going to get the ball. The defender follows him, and Champion then returns and retrives the ball

The Return of Hot Sauce to And 1

It has been confirmed by Mark Edwards as of Jan. 21, 2006, that Champion will be returning to the And 1 Mixtape Tour in 2006.

Facts and Trivia

Champion's homecourt is Run N' Shoot in Atlanta, GA
Champion's nickname was originally "Sauce". However it eventually morphed into "Hot Sauce."
Pre-game superstition is to go on court with shoes untied
Grew up idolizing Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Phillip Champion ]

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