‘Dream Court’ opens in the heart of East Meadow

Basketball stars made an appearance in East Meadow last week, officially unveiling a new state-of-the-art facility at Eisenhower Park.

The new court, known as a “Dream Court,” was made possible by the Nancy Lieberman Charities. The ribbon-cutting ceremony, on Oct. 11, honored Julius “Dr. J” Erving, a Nassau County native who is widely considered one of the best basketball players of all time.

Nancy Lieberman, a Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame member herself, who grew up in Far Rockaway, has been working with her charity to install Dream Courts around the U.S. since 2010. According to her website, NancyLiebermanCharities.org, the “initiative is centered on democratizing access to basketball for girls and boys, offering them an affordable avenue for recreation, a secure space to engage in play, an opportunity to foster social interactions, and a platform to cultivate essential values of teamwork and sportsmanship.”

Addressing a crowd of young basketball players at last week’s ribbon cutting, County Executive Bruce Blakeman said, “It’s great to be with some really, really caring people who are outstanding athletes. Not only do they excel at their sport, they excel at doing great things for our community. And I’m talking specifically about Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman and Hall of Famer ‘Dr. J,’ Julius Erving — the most incredible, most amazing athletes, and very, very caring individuals.”

Blakeman said that this was the second Dream Court installed in Nassau County this year, the first one having opened in Roosevelt in the spring. The court features a high-performance “PowerGame” surface, a custom-engineered outdoor modular court system with a lightly textured surface that boasts both dry traction and low skin abrasion, according to Sport Court, the company that created it.

“It’s important, because these courts are state-of-the-art,” Blakeman said. “They’re not like when Nancy and Dr. J and I played, where we played on hard asphalt — and we have the ankles and the knees and the hips to prove it. These are really state-of-the-art. They’re easy on your legs, and they’re actually very, very beautiful. So we could not be more happy than to have this partnership with Dream Courts.”

Erving said his story “literally began” in East Meadow — he was born just a few minutes away, at Meadowbrook Hospital, now the Nassau County University Medical Center. Erving went on to star on the court at Roosevelt High School and the University of Massachusetts, then for the New York Nets and, most famously, the Philadelphia 76ers.

He offered words of advice to the young players, encouraging them to live in the moment, and focus on ways to make a difference.

“You need to live now,” he said. “You need to think about now — what’s happening now, what you really want to happen now.”’

Erving said he had known Lieberman since she was 15. She took part in a basketball camp that he ran — the only female enrolled — and was voted its best athlete.

“She distinguished herself in such a way, and everything that we did, whether it was the drills, whether it was the scrimmages, no matter what it was, she just stood out,” he recounted. “I said, ‘This lady right here is going to be something.’”

An Olympian, Lieberman also played and coached in the Women’s National Basketball Association. She was hired by the Sacramento Kings as an assistant coach, the second female assistant coach ever in the National Basketball Association’s history. More recently, she is a broadcaster for the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans and a head coach for BIG3, a 3-on-3 basketball league. She is nothing short of a legend in women’s basketball.

“You did your thing, presenting this court to the people of Nassau County,” Erving said. “Adults and kids alike, don’t be shy about coming out here. There’s no admission fee. This is free — you need to take advantage of it. Your need to learn to love it, and share the story with other people, because that’s really what it’s all about.”

Lieberman said that Eisenhower Park is “beautiful,” and that she understands why people enjoy utilizing what it offers. She added that Erving is “shy,” for being as great as he is.

“He didn’t tell you that people like our friend Michael Jordan looked up to him,” Lieberman said. “He didn’t tell you that people like our friend Kobe Bryant looked up to him. He didn’t tell you that guys like Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, LeBron James look up to him. That’s pretty outstanding stuff — because those guys are going to be future Hall of Famers.

“But Julius just has such a profound effect on people’s lives,” she added. “We all have to have a starting point. And his starting point was here, in this community, in parks like this.”

The Dream Court is on the west side of the park, near Hempstead Turnpike, across from the administration buildings, near Parking Field No. 2. Near signage that indicates where fitness trails are, and just past the park’s tennis courts, are two basketball courts — including the Dream Court.

Lieberman thanked everyone involved in making the court possible. “It’s called teamwork,” she said. “If you really want to be on a team, you’ve got to be that person. Be the player you always wanted to be or saw in somebody else. That’s why we’re here today.”