Photo courtesy of Dave’s Joint.
By David Cordova
This is Part 11 of our sixteen-part series, “This Is New York,” as we chronicled Anthony “Rome” Marshall, who is currently a senior at Brooklyn Democracy Academy in Brooklyn, and is one of the most prominent players in the city and is wreaking havoc in the asphalt tournaments and in the PSAL Multiple Pathways League.
In the borough of Brooklyn and New York City as a whole, the name, “Bucket Fam,” has become very synonymous throughout the basketball community, and for good reason. It’s a group of athletes that give their all on the court and also class acts off the court. But when they’re on the court, it’s always going to be a good game.
One member of the conglomerate that’s holding it down is none other than Anthony “Rome” Marshall. The 6-foot point guard is a tough matchup for a lot of his opponents, due to his ability to break down defenders with his dribble and his tenacity for getting to the basket. The fact is, he is driven to win and will not stop until he does.
Throughout the past couple of years, he has been building his profile in many streetball tournaments and in the PSAL Multiple Pathways League, and wherever he’s gone, he’s never disappointed and always rose to the occasion.
When asked what motivates him to be successful in the game of basketball, he replied, “My mom, you know, she passed away, so that motivates me a lot. And just seeing my favorite player work hard.”
Asked to elaborate on that favorite player is, he replied, “That’s Kevin Durant, because he just inspires me when I watch him play. He’s the goat.”
A native of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, Marshall comes from a neighborhood in which pros like Knicks legend Bernard King and his brother, Albert King, who also played in the NBA and current Knicks forward Taj Gibson, all came out of.
When asked about the basketball culture in Fort Greene, he replied, “Not a lot of them play basketball over there, a few of them like Taj Gibson, Ephiphany Prince, Sean Armand, they inspire me, too.”
Marshall plays his high school basketball at Metro BDA (Brooklyn Democracy Academy), an alternative high school in Brownsville, Brooklyn. As a sophomore, he averaged 13.3 points and seven assists per game. Last season as a junior, 14.8 points, 9.6 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game as he led his high school squad to a second straight PSAL Multiple Pathways League championship.
“Metro BDA, that’s my school. I like playing there, good environment, teachers help me out, whatever needs to get done, they help you with,” said Marshall about attending Metro BDA.
A key influence on Marshall is Stephen Doyle, the CEO of the Bucket Fam, who is also a coach and an advocate counselor at Metro BDA. Whenever you see him, you see Marshall in tow, as the two are very omnipresent at many basketball events in the city.
When asked what Doyle has done for him, Marshall said, “A lot, he’s the one that be pushing me a lot. He’s [like] my dad.”
And as far as what the Bucket Fam is, he replied, “The Bucket Fam is the fam, it’s a movement, it’s a family, that likes to get buckets.”
Whenever you see Marshall during the summertime at a streetball tournament, like, for example, Dyckman, Lincoln Park or West 4th, he always brings his intensity and loves to play in front of big crowds.
“I just like playing outdoors, ‘cause the crowd, the crowd want to see me work, so I put on for them. That’s where I stand out at, [with the] big crowd,” he replied when asked about performing on the asphalt.
This spring and summer, when he wasn’t on the asphalt, Marshall played for the New York Lightning, where he averaged 6.1 points and three rebounds per game on the Nike EYBL circuit and was one of the key figures in the program winning the Peach Invitational tournament in Augusta, Georgia.
“It was good, it was a good experience, I had to come out and do my thing, and put on for my team,” said Marshall about his experience with the Lightning.
On June 28th, the Bucket Fam had a game against 10thAve at the Dyckman Tournament in the Inwood section of Manhattan, which pitted Marshall against internet sensation Julian Newman, who is from Orlando, Florida. During the game, Marshall had the crowd in the frenzy, as he outplayed the “Hello Newmans,” star and held him to three points. Because of his play, his highlights from that game was shown on Dyckman’s Instagram page and Bleacher Report.
When asked about playing against Newman and if he felt he had to embarrass or upstage him, Marshall replied, “Yes, that’s what I had to do. I came out to play, he came out too cool. He came out thinking that nobody could beat him and that he can’t be touched. I had to put that to a stop.”
When asked if his highlights going viral motivated him to keep working hard on his game, Marshall replied, “Yeah, ten times harder. That [work ethic] just don’t stop.”
Now that he is entering his senior season at Metro BDA, he plans on helping his team win another PSAL Multiple Pathways League championship, and also getting the opportunity to play college basketball in the future.
Asked what to expect from him as a senior, he replied, “Just [to] be a better point guard. Come out and score, [play] ten times harder than I was last year.”
Pretty soon, the kid they call, “Bucket Fam Rome,” will be more than a crowd favorite at the streetball tournaments. With the right situation and hard work, he will be a fixture at a college program some day. Wherever he goes, he’ll make the coach that recruits him proud and will be a huge asset, due to his toughness and tenacity for putting forth the maximum effort required of him. After all, he is a bucket.
Check out Part 12 on Sunday, September 1st as we will be chronicling Brandon Weston, a Brooklyn native who plays his high school basketball in Chicago at Morgan Park High School and on the Nike EYBL circuit with the Mac Irvin Fire.
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