Racial harmony on display at basketball tournament

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The gym in the Nickerson Gardens housing project can be an unfriendly place for anyone who dares to enter without a tough, competitive game of basketball.

Just ask the Latino players from East Wilmington who, in May, for the first time, drove 15 miles to Watts to join the project’s Moonlight basketball league. When they walked on the court, they were greeted with a chorus of taunts, and someone in the crowd issued a blunt warning: ‘You better not bring any weak stuff in here!’

The 12 young men didn’t flinch; they knew they would have to prove themselves if they wanted respect in a tournament dominated by African Americans.

Read on about how the Latino team impressed locals in the mostly black event

-- Deborah Bonello in Los Angeles

Photo: Coach Manny Panduro speaks to a Latino team from Wilmington playing in the Moonlight league basketball tournament at Nickerson Gardens in Watts. The players had to prove themselves if they wanted to win respect from opposing players and spectators — most of whom were African American. Credit: Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times