Promo shot of Philip 'Hot Sauce' Champion for AND1
Biography
Originally from Jacksonville, Champion spent the majority of his youth in Columbus, Georgia. After high school he found himself in Atlanta, jobless, shirtless, and having only a vague notion of what he’d like to do for a living. He found life at Run N’ Shoot, spending long hours in pick-up games and solitary practices, developing ball-handling skills that would one day bring him fame and fortune.
Champion and his (now ex-) manager Mark Edwards met at Run N’ Shoot early in 1999 and the two formed a friendship. Then, a few years ago, Champion violated the terms of his probation and, because he could not pay the $752 fine issued by the judge, found himself in jail. In the meantime Edwards, who had begun aggressively promoting Champion’s game, was contacted by AND 1, which wanted to arrange for Champion to participate in some of the organized games they were holding on outdoor courts. Edwards went back to Run N’ Shoot, unaware that Champion had been incarcerated. After learning of Champion's predicament through a mutual friend, Edwards, an attorney, arranged to pay his fine and was headed to Los Angeles, CA and the AND 1 game. Champion joined the AND 1 team in the summer of 2000.
Hot Sauce is known for his many ball-handling tricks. Some of his famous moves include the following:
- The Boomerang - This is regarded as Champion's signature move. He begins by pretending to throw a one-handed pass past over a defender's shoulder. However the ball rises straight in the air and returns to him while the defender turns his head to look for the ball.
- The Sauce2k/ Air Shammgod - Champion crosses the ball between his legs in a right to left direction.He catches the ball behind his back and quickly crosses it in a left-right direction then he crosses it again with extreme speed back-left-right direction again. Often used in conjunction with the Hurricane. (see below)
- The Killer Crossover - With the ball in one hand Champion quickly bounces it to the opposite side, confusing defenders
- Off the Heezy - With the defender's guard down, Champion throws the ball on the defender's head.
- The Hypnotizer - Champion crouches down low with his defender in front of him and dribbles the ball behind his back, switching the ball from hand to hand. He then throws the ball from behind his back over his defender and pretends to continue dribbling. He then runs past the defender retrieves the ball and continues dribbling.
- The Flintstone Shuffle - With a defender close to him, Champion dribbles the ball behind their foot and bounces it vertically five to six feet in the air. As the ball is in the air, Champion runs a few paces to the other side of the defender as if he were going to get the ball. The defender follows him, and Champion then returns and retrieves the ball
- The Jackknife - With the defender close to him, Champion puts the ball behind the defender's head and throws it up into the air, making the defender think he has shot the ball. Champion steps a few paces to the side of the defender then retrieves that ball before it lands.
- The Hurricane - Champion crosses the ball over in the air from right to left, which is then put through his legs (and sometimes opponents' legs) from behind his body.
- The Sauce Slowdown also known as the "Slow-Mo" - Champion dribbles the ball at low speed and then crosses through his legs extremely fast, confusing opponents.One of Champion's most used moves.Often followed by a "Which Way" Crossover or an "Off The Head (Heezy)" move
- The Matrix - One of Champion's newest moves, with the defender most likely already a bit shaken, Champion slows down his entire body and dribbles in an ultra slow fashion; a variation of the "Slow mo" (see above)
