Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
'Fresno, Out!' Viral Hoops Star Honed Game at Local Playgrounds
David Website Replacement
By David Taub, Senior Reporter
Published 5 years ago on
July 6, 2020

Share

Basketball legends come in all shapes, sizes, and ages.

A group of 20-something players found that out when they accepted the challenge of an older gentleman, who rode up on a bicycle.

Millions witnessed a YouTube star and former college player get their comeuppance, unable to dunk against the decades-older street-wise man at a city park in Salem, Oregon.

Little did Joe “Fresno” Salazar Jr. know that this particular interaction would be captured on a smartphone and go viral. ESPN Sportscenter tweeted the video, and Salazar achieved anonymous fame.

Now, Salazar is telling his story, anonymous no more.

One Fine Day at a Park

“I’ve seen bigger guys come at me on Fresno playgrounds … They ain’t going to do that on me!”Joe “Fresno” Salazar Jr.

A.J. Lapray played basketball at Pepperdine and other schools. While the NBA wasn’t his future, he’s kept his hoops passion burning. He has posted numerous videos about basketball — tips, drills, and challenging all comers to dunk on him.

Some people estimate Lapray makes hundreds of thousands posting to YouTube.

Lapray is known to offer players $100 if they can dunk on him. Salazar saw Lapray and others playing in Salem and flipped the challenge on them. Salazar dared Lapray and his crew to dunk on him.

“I thought it was a ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ movie being made,” Salazar tells GV Wire℠.

For most of his life, the 55-year-old Salazar has played street hoops whenever he could. He started on the courts of Calwa near Fresno and never stopped — whether it was a formal rec league or any court he could find.

“I’ve seen bigger guys come at me on Fresno playgrounds,” Salazar said. “They ain’t going to do that on me!”

Salazar was worried he might have bitten off more than he could chew.

“I remember what coach said, if they come at you, block the lane,” Salazar recalled.

To the surprise of the players and the internet, this old-school player rejected shot after shot.

Master of the Art of Trash-Talking

“I’m 59-years old, look at him,” Salazar says on the video.

Salazar explained that he purposely embellished his age.

“I had to add a couple of years because it was trash-talking,” Salazar said. “They were telling me (the) old man can’t jump. It was my turn to trash talk.”

And, he capped the viral video off by hitting a sweet hook shot. Swish.

“Those youngsters brought it out of me. So I just slapped him with a 30-foot hook. Don’t mess with me,” Salazar said.

A stunned Lapray gave Salazar $20 for his exploits.

“Fresno, out!” Salazar says, his nickname a nod to his hometown.

Salazar then biked away along the Willamette River.

Everybody knows me here as ‘Fresno.’ But when I go to Fresno, they call me ‘Salem,’ ” Salazar said.

A Viral Star

Even though more than 2.6 million people have watched the video since Sportscenter tweeted it on May 24, Salazar has received limited attention for his court heroics.

City workers approached Salazar, asking him to replicate his hook shot. He did.

“They were like, man, this thing is for real,” Salazar said.

Twitter users had fun with the video. One post shows Peter Griffin of the “The Family Guy” dunking on Salazar — when Lapray couldn’t.

Salazar is taking the video in stride.

“I don’t know how it led me to this video, to be the star, they say. I do it for the love of basketball (but) also for the love of Fresno,” Salazar said.

Raised on Hoops in Fresno

Salazar has played basketball since elementary school. He attended Roosevelt High and Fresno State but concentrated on playing in rec leagues.

“When there was violence in the home, I would get my basketball and I would go play for hours, from early in the morning until late at night, so I wouldn’t have to hear it.” — Joe “Fresno” Salazar Jr.

“I could have played a lot of high school basketball. I could play college, I’m sure. But, I was a troubled kid, grew up with the wrong crowd. And I got mixed up in some things which hurt me in school, which in turn hurt me in basketball,” Salazar said.

He grew up in the projects, across the street from Edison High School, one of six children.

“When there was violence in the home, I would get my basketball and I would go play for hours, from early in the morning until late at night, so I wouldn’t have to hear it,” Salazar said.

Salazar grew up watching the highly successful Fresno State teams of coach Boyd Grant. He says former Bulldogs Jervis Cole and Carl Ray Harris are friends.

Away from the court, he has worked a variety of jobs, including as a radio DJ for KSJV “Radio Bilingue” and a furniture mover.

He and his family moved to Salem in the early 1990s, where his wife Renee grew up. But, his passion for basketball didn’t wane with the move.

“I dang won nearly every street-ball tournament they have in Salem,” Salazar said.

Now, Salazar is retired after raising two kids and four grandchildren. He still has family, and his heart, in Fresno.

“Fresno’s been so good to me. Fresno is my love, my heart. Bulldogs forever!” Salazar said.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

World’s Largest Almond Processor Will Shutter Sacramento Plant. 600 Workers Impacted

DON'T MISS

Trump Eyes Major Funding Cuts for California, Including All Public Universities

DON'T MISS

Farming Regulation Costs Rise 1,300% Since 2006: Cal Poly

DON'T MISS

Southern California Air Regulators Weigh a Plan to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters

DON'T MISS

US Supreme Court Allows DOGE Broad Access to Social Security Data

DON'T MISS

Doctors Were Preparing to Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up.

DON'T MISS

Abrego Garcia Is Returned to US From El Salvador

DON'T MISS

Proud Boys Convicted in Jan. 6 Attack Sue Government on Claims of ‘Political Persecution’

DON'T MISS

FDA’s AI Assistant ‘Elsa’ Fails Its First Day on the Job

DON'T MISS

Documentary Series Goes Inside Trump’s Bubble

UP NEXT

Trump Eyes Major Funding Cuts for California, Including All Public Universities

UP NEXT

Southern California Air Regulators Weigh a Plan to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters

UP NEXT

Doctors Were Preparing to Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up.

UP NEXT

FDA’s AI Assistant ‘Elsa’ Fails Its First Day on the Job

UP NEXT

Tulare County Gang Member Convicted of Trying to a Murder Police Officer

UP NEXT

Newsom Promises Funding to Jump-Start ‘Science of Reading’

UP NEXT

Feds Indict SoCal Hospice CEO for Medicare Fraud in Fresno and Kern Counties

UP NEXT

Fresno Downtown Parking Costs Taxpayers an Extra $4 Million

UP NEXT

Rancho Cucamonga Prepares for First US Bullet Train Hub in 2028

UP NEXT

8 Ways Musk and Trump Could Inflict Pain on Each Other

David Taub,
Senior Reporter
Curiosity drives David Taub. The award-winning journalist might be shy, but feels mighty with a recorder in his hand. He doesn't see it his job to "hold public officials accountable," but does see it to provide readers (and voters) the information needed to make intelligent choices. Taub has been honored with several writing awards from the California News Publishers Association. He's just happy to have his stories read. Joining GV Wire in 2016, Taub covers politics, government and elections, mainly in the Fresno/Clovis area. He also writes columns about local eateries (Appetite for Fresno), pro wrestling (Off the Bottom Rope), and media (Media Man). Prior to joining the online news source, Taub worked as a radio producer for KMJ and PowerTalk 96.7 in Fresno. He also worked as an assignment editor for KCOY-TV in Santa Maria, California, and KSEE-TV in Fresno. He has also worked behind the scenes for several sports broadcasts, including the NCAA basketball tournament, and the Super Bowl. When not spending time with his family, Taub loves to officially score Fresno Grizzlies games. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Taub is a die-hard Giants and 49ers fan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in communications and political science. Go Blue! You can contact David at 559-492-4037 or at Send an Email

Southern California Air Regulators Weigh a Plan to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters

17 hours ago

US Supreme Court Allows DOGE Broad Access to Social Security Data

17 hours ago

Doctors Were Preparing to Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up.

17 hours ago

Abrego Garcia Is Returned to US From El Salvador

18 hours ago

Proud Boys Convicted in Jan. 6 Attack Sue Government on Claims of ‘Political Persecution’

18 hours ago

FDA’s AI Assistant ‘Elsa’ Fails Its First Day on the Job

18 hours ago

Documentary Series Goes Inside Trump’s Bubble

18 hours ago

Tulare County Gang Member Convicted of Trying to a Murder Police Officer

18 hours ago

Newsom Promises Funding to Jump-Start ‘Science of Reading’

19 hours ago

Feds Indict SoCal Hospice CEO for Medicare Fraud in Fresno and Kern Counties

19 hours ago

World’s Largest Almond Processor Will Shutter Sacramento Plant. 600 Workers Impacted

The world’s largest almond processor, Blue Diamond Growers, says it will close its Sacramento processing plant this year The almond co...

16 hours ago

16 hours ago

World’s Largest Almond Processor Will Shutter Sacramento Plant. 600 Workers Impacted

17 hours ago

Trump Eyes Major Funding Cuts for California, Including All Public Universities

17 hours ago

Farming Regulation Costs Rise 1,300% Since 2006: Cal Poly

18 hours ago

Southern California Air Regulators Weigh a Plan to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters

18 hours ago

US Supreme Court Allows DOGE Broad Access to Social Security Data

18 hours ago

Doctors Were Preparing to Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up.

19 hours ago

Abrego Garcia Is Returned to US From El Salvador

19 hours ago

Proud Boys Convicted in Jan. 6 Attack Sue Government on Claims of ‘Political Persecution’

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend