Tell your kids to just say no to drugs. Tell your kids about the dangers of alcohol. Tell your kids the importance of safe sex. But don't tell your kids to stay away from the AND1 Mix Tape Tour.

Since 2000, the AND1 Mix Tape Tour has toured the United States and the world, entertaining lovers of playground basketball. Basketball skeptics cry that in an age where American kids are knocked for their lack of fundamentals, the last thing you need is a tour where players throw balls off people's heads, dance on the court and think about dunking all the time. But instead of taking life so seriously, tell the youngsters to take AND1 for what it's worth, enjoy the show and yell the event's trademark phrase, "Oh baby," if they see something they like.

"You're going to have your haters, your naysayers," current AND1 team member Aaron "A.O." Owens said. 'Then, you're going to have your people that just love you. I understand that. I'm not going to let it ruin my day and worry about it."

"So you really believe that we're killing fundamentals? We run eight to 10 episodes in the summer (on ESPN). So you really think in those eight to 10 episodes that we transform basketball? That we make kids no longer want to do [things right]? So, we're the reason that there is an age limit in the NBA now. That makes no sense."

The reason why I dig the AND1 Mix Tape Tour is because it brings me back to a memorable time in my youth.

Growing up in San Jose, Calif., I dreamed of playing in the NBA one day and was fascinated by the streetball game. I once owned a book that talked about the best places in the country to play streetball. For me, the best place was Cherry Park in San Jose. The parks real name was something else, but since it was on Cherry Street all the brothas called it Cherry Park.

It was there that I earned my street cred on the court. I learned to stick up for myself. Get tough. Get better against grown men. Met men from all walks of life and learned what to do -- and what not to do -- from them. I even saw playground legend Hook Mitchell win a dunk contest there with a 360 dunk over a 10-speed bicycle and vault over a Volkswagen Bug for a slam. I had a couple of memorable dunks playing in college and high school. But the one I remember the most is reverse-slamming on some dude in the playground.

Sure, the scene wasn't out of Mayberry. There would be 40 ounces of St. Ides sitting on the side of the court. Africa Bambaataa, Public Enemy and Run-DMC would blare from the boom box. Occasionally, someone from the Seven Trees Crips would be hanging around and/or play. No doubt, in playground basketball it can get grimy and fights can start over bad calls and hard fouls. But no one was truly hurt unless they sprained an ankle, twisted their knee or something.

I became fascinated about seeing the streetball life again when ESPN began showing a reality show of the tour. And two years ago, I went to watch the AND1 Mix Tape Tour for the first time in person in Denver.

Sure, there were some lapses where nothing happened or there were a series of bad plays. But there were some dunks that got everyone out of their seats and putting their hands to their mouth in amazement. The dribbling was something former Harlem Globetrotter Curly Neal would be proud of. And with a will to win and hold up their rep as the world's best streetball players, the AND1 team played hard for a victory.

With all that in mind, why is AND1 being accused of ruining basketball?

The uptight and square don't think their flamboyant style creates good habits. They believe kids think dunk and crossover dribble before fundamental basketball. But isnt this where the parent and coach come in to explain things?

Things like how a dunk is sweet, but it is just two points. How gaining the dribbling skills and the athleticism that these street legends own can be a valuable tool in competition. Noticing how they keep the same competitive fire from game to game and city to city.

"AND1 streetball is for the kids, No. 1," Dennis "Spyda" Chism Jr., said. "No. 2, it's for the community and the city. We're not promoting bad habits."

Most of the AND1 players used hard work to come from obscurity to worldwide celebrity. And all the players go out of their way to give autographs instead of sneaking to the locker room.

"Now that it's getting so much bigger, maybe we aren't as appealing to kids because they think that we've made it," A.O. said. "Kids ask me, ‘How many houses you got?' I'm like, ‘Huh, it ain't like that.' The guys haven't changed."

Spyda said: "People love us because we're different. Like (deceased and former AND1 member Antoine) ‘Flash' (Hayes) used to say, 'At our games you can just walk up to us.' In the NBA games, you can't just walk up to an NBA player when he is on the court. You can walk up to Spyda, A.O., anybody, and just ask for their autographs during the game, after the game and before the game.

"It's just something natural. Without the fans, this thing wouldn't be going."

Speaking of NBA, they also have respect from the league, too. The likes of Shaquille O'Neal and Amare Stoudemire have left games with big grins and Ricky Davis, Darrell Armstrong, Mike James and former AND1 star Rafer "Skip to My Lou" Alston have played in games. "When some of the guys play, I don't want them to think I'm getting overexcited because it's NBA players," A.O. said. "I'm trying to get in their a** just like I'm trying to get in a (open-run player's) a**."

And above all, it is just entertainment. Hey, let's give the kids more credit. They know better than to toss a ball off someone's head during a high school game. There is good and bad in most everything, and there is definitely good to take from these guys. The biggest problem for AND1 right now isn't the skeptics; it's getting the American fan excited again.

When the tour started, players used to go to barbershops, malls and playgrounds to create buzz. Now, most of the buzz comes through the media and shorter stays in cities makes promotion limited. Now that the tour has been to every major city in the United States one, two or three times, the crowds of usually 5,000-7,000 haven't improved and they have a "been there, done that" attitude. While the interest is still Beatles-like overseas, in the United States it's slowly declining despite being recently featured in Sports Illustrated and having a white star in Grayson "The Professor" Boucher. To get the fans to come back and new ones to arrive, the AND1 players need to get back to grassroots promotion again. "The kids that grew up with us are older teenagers leaving out of high school going to college now," A.O. said. "Now, it's about going back and getting their little brothers, 13-year-olds. We have to go back to what we used to do."

Spyda said: "We have to do more interacting. Going to back to the malls and hanging out with people."

The AND1 Mix Tape Tour may be coming through your town soon, as it's in the middle of its 2005 American schedule. If it does, go have some fun at the unscripted playground game. At the very least for the 30ish-and-up ballers, it can bring you back to where you came from. "You never know what you're going to see," Spyda said. You never know what you're going to get."