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Sports of The Times: Playground Legend Revisits the Streets, His Fall and His Rise

Carlton Greene made his way up two steep flights of stairs, slowly, with great effort. Forty-five years ago, he took these steps two at a time, sometimes three. But that was then. Now he is 60, and his knees, hips and thighs have seen better days.

When he finally reached the second-floor landing, Greene gazed into the compact old school gym bathed in light. He smiled broadly. What a homecoming. Greene, whose street basketball handle was Moto, had been transported back to his childhood.

This was the Church of the Intercession in Harlem, the place where his dreams had first unfolded.