Richard Kirkland was born in New York 58 years ago. He had a very hard life while growing up in Harlem streets. Kirkland was around with the gangstas of the hood at the age of 13, but like no other, never left out the basketball game. How he says "I was a legend in two worlds: hoops and crime".
He kept playing in Harlem streets until he went to play at Norfolk State team, where he finalized as a CIAA champions with a 25-2 record in the year 1968. Next year he was drafted by Chicago Bulls, but after a few days in the rookie camp he took the decision to go, arguing that he could make more money in the streets than playing for an NBA team at that time.
Back again in Harlem he fed his double legend; arriving at Rucker games with a Rolls, he was as known in the game of basketball as his big hits Robbin Hood style that made him win the nickname "Bank of Harlem".
The ones who knew Pee wee at that time talk marvelous things about him, for example "Pee Wee just dazzled people"- Dr.J, "Pee Wee and Joe Hammond were in a class by themselves" - Peter Vecsey, "A lot of good ballers played at Rucker, but definitely Pee Wee stood out" - Tiny Archibald.
In 1971, his lifestyle send him to jail, convicted of conspiracy to sell drugs, he served 4 years of his 15 year sentence but again in year 1981 went back to prison for seven years on tax fraud charges.
He says that a lot of streetball legends are a wannabe legends or legends in their own heads, he says that people that talk about him are suspicious, that's why he is lucky that anyone can tell his story. He was the only one to be named best scorer in the league when the pros played at Rucker, and he did that two years in a row, when his team won the finals he was named MVP.
Actually Pee Wee Kirkland created a school for young people to steer them off a life of crime, trying to teach them to not do what he did in the past, well, the bad things of the past, because as a basketball player they had a lot to learn about him.
