Basketball Growing in Stature at a Lower Level

Once asked to describe his sky hook, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar tried to simplify it for the layman.

“First you jump,” he said, “so that you’re at least eye level with the top of the rim . . .”

End of lesson. End of reality.

At least for me and the rest of the male population who can only dream of such lofty goals.

It’s an awful lot of fun to watch Akeem Olajuwon reject a shot, Moses Malone tear a rebound away from the opposition or Kevin McHale seemingly extend his already long arms another few inches by sheer will so that he can softly lay the ball in the basket.

Fun to watch. Fun to dream.

But fun to try against most of the specimens that fill the lanes at almost every level of the sport these days? Not unless you’re a masochist. As long as they keep putting those baskets 10 feet in the air, most of us are going to have to be content to do our dunking with doughnuts.

There has to be a solution. And the Farhoomand brothers think they have found it.

It has been four years since Ramine and Kamran Farhoomand began the Six-Foot-And-Under Basketball League.

It sounded like a joke at first. What was next, horse races for seven-foot-or-taller jockeys, sumo wrestling for 90-pounders, or marathons for 300-pounders?

The basketball experiment began in the San Gabriel Valley in 1983 with 20 teams. By 1985, the area had expanded to include all of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley with 200 teams competing.

The games were played on indoor courts, complete with certified referees, scorekeepers and scoreboards.

The rules were unchanged. The basket remained 10 feet high. Only the height requirement for players had been changed to protect the innocent. You’re taller than six feet, go pick on somebody your own size.

“It works in boxing and wrestling,” the 5-8 Kamran said. “It makes a difference how much you weigh in boxing. Well, it certainly makes a difference how tall you are in basketball. The only reason some of these guys are not in the pros is because they are too short.

“Sugar Ray Leonard wouldn’t be up there if there wasn’t a weight difference. He couldn’t compete against the heavyweights. There are a lot of Sugar Rays in our league. These are great players who make great plays. However, not only are they not making money at it like the taller players, but they are paying us.”

For a while, money became a problem for the Six-Foot-And-Under crew. With 200 teams operating, the machinery to run this burgeoning enterprise clogged up, leaving the Farhoomands $5,000 in debt.

That was two years ago. They have revamped their operation and are back in business at a more modest level with 30 Six-Foot-And-Under basketball teams in the Valley, and 95 throughout the Southland.

The cost to join the basketball league is $33 per team, which works out to about $4 to $5 per man.

“It makes sense,” Kamran, 33, said of the basketball operation that is paying his rent. “I don’t know why it has not been picked up by others. It’s so obvious. We are not even basketball players. We are soccer players. But it doesn’t take great intelligence to realize this is something people can relate to.”

The players in the league range anywhere from 5-2 to the limit. This is one organization you literally can grow out of. It’s happened.

They’ve also had problems with ringers. Nobody hits you with a yardstick when you sign up, but if it appears you’ve fudged on your height--like if your teammates keep slapping you on the elbow every time they try for a high five--the measuring stick comes out. Several 6-1 frauds already have been banned from play.

But if you are an even 6 feet, you can be the world’s next Big Fellow. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Who knows? It appears to be catching on. Forget Wilt the Stilt. Basketball’s future superstars might be Wimp the Shrimp and Morty the Shortie.