How Easterwood-Troy Brailey Park produced champions, protected generations and helped save our lives (BALTIMORE – August 7, 2026) – When we got back from East Baltimore, I was about nine years old. I say “got back” because my mother had owned a house there the whole time—1526 Moreland Avenue, on a dead-end block facing Easterwood Park. My mother, Lillie Juanita Glover, was one of the first Black homeowners on that block back in the early 1950s, when the neighborhood around Moreland and Baker was still predominantly white. One of her first instructions to me was simple: Don’t go around Warwick.…

From three buses out of Cherry Hill to undefeated seasons at City College, a national championship and leadership of the Baltimore Police Department, Leonard Hamm’s life demonstrates what basketball can build. (CHERRY HILL, BALTIMORE – August 6, 2026) – I have known Commissioner Hamm and covered him in the news for years. I met him when he was Baltimore’s police commissioner, and that is how I have known him ever since. But I had no idea about the basketball player. No idea. Here is another man I have known for years, only to discover that there was an entire chapter of…

From Operation CHAMP and Easterwood Recreation Center to Cloverdale, the Legends Tournament and the Brunson League, BMORENews presents “Legends of Baltimore: Beyond the Game.” (BALTIMORE – August 5, 2026) – For much of my life, I did not understand the depth and significance of Baltimore’s Black basketball history. At 61 years old, I have spent all but two years of my life in Baltimore. Sports have always been a part of my journey. I played baseball, basketball and football. I wrestled, boxed, lifted weights, ran cross-country, swam and studied martial arts. I was not the greatest basketball player—not by far—but I…

The West Baltimore native became one of Bucknell University’s greatest basketball players, reached the doorstep of the NBA and discovered that a full life would require him to go beyond the game. (BALTIMORE – August 4, 2026) – Al Leslie shows up. That may sound like a simple statement, but the older I get, the more I understand how much it means. He shows up for Baltimore basketball. He shows up for Greg Branch’s Legends Tournament. He shows up for the people who remember him—and for those of us still discovering exactly who he is. That is how this story…

Michael Dukes: The Legend Behind Pikesville’s Dynasty | BMORENews.com Head coach Michael Dukes has led Pikesville High School’s girls’ basketball program to five straight Maryland state titles — but before he was building a dynasty, he was Southern High School and Towson basketball royalty himself, playing after the likes of Towson Hall of Famer Roger Dickens. In this Legends of Baltimore conversation with Doni Glover, Dukes talks about why the Dome at Madison is the true proving ground for Baltimore basketball, honors legends the city has lost like Jojo Parker, and breaks down what makes Baltimore hoopers different — the…

Legends of Baltimore: Beyond the Game (BALTIMORE – August 3, 2026) – Dwayne “Kosher” Wood was standing outside a basketball camp when I called him. That detail says almost everything. Decades after Baltimore basketball helped shape and protect him, Kosher is still around the game, still around the children, and still trying to provide the next generation with some of what his generation received. This time, however, the young people would not have to pay for it. “When we do stuff, I like for the kids to have no cost,” Wood said. “Because when we came up, everything—we didn’t have…

Mr. William Wells: Discover the inspiring journey of overcoming adversity to give back to inner-city youth. Learn how staying … Watch full video on YouTube

Introducing Legends of Baltimore: More Than a Game, a BMORENews series preserving the athletes, mentors, institutions, and hidden histories that shaped our city. (BALTIMORE – August 2, 2026) – Let’s get one thing straight from the start: I am not presenting myself as Baltimore’s leading sports statistician. I don’t claim to be a standard sports reporter. If you want somebody who has Baltimore sports on lock today, I refer you to Troy Hackley, the man behind Urban Sports Beat. Troy has spent years covering our athletes—from Little League and youth programs to high school, college and beyond. Back in the day,…

DuBose has a long history of supporting Baltimore youth through the AAU. Thank you for your service for the past 40 years. Watch full video on YouTube

Gregory Branch and the Talley Ho Foundation brought boys, girls, Legends and generations of Baltimore basketball history together at the Dome—while the Brunson League Finals delivered high-level action at UA House at Fayette (BALTIMORE – August 2, 2026) – For anyone who tells you it is just a game, tell them, “Surely, you jest.” It is more than a game. For many inner-city youth, basketball can be defining. One’s ability to handle the rock can help determine a young person’s trajectory. In some communities, hockey is the go-to sport. In other communities, soccer defines the culture. We just witnessed that…