All-Star Weekend was a star-studded event featuring athletes and celebrities participating in basketball events and putting on a show for the viewers. Off the court, athletes held community events and appearances to show love to their supporters, and Alan “White Iverson” Palesano was grateful to host Paint the Park in Compton with AND1.
“It’s been a crazy weekend, but I’m glad I was able to experience everything and meet my supporters. I was happy to be part of the Paint in the Park event because it was a great way to give back and play with the kids.” Palesano said. “It was cool redoing the backboard, painting the rims, and giving merch to people that DM me telling me how much inspiration I bring them; that feeling will always be surreal.”
Palesano comes from humble beginnings, moving around a lot due to being in foster care since the age of three. During that time, Palesano met his first love, basketball. “Yeah, life was rough, and when I found basketball, that’s all I did from sunup to sundown, just on the court every chance I got.” Due to hardship, Palesano’s basketball dreams never left the street courts. “I never played AAU, and I tried to in high school, but I only played two years because it was hard getting to practice sometimes, and of course, moving around a lot didn’t help either.”
Palesano knew the hand he was dealt in life was going to be hard to play with, but instead of letting it keep him in the gutter, he chose to show up and work ten times harder than the next. He walked onto Mount Sanaceno, one of the top junior college basketball schools in California at the time. “Yeah, I didn’t even know what I was getting myself into when I showed up for training. I really had to earn my spot, and even then, I had to redshirt my first year to get used to the speed of college,” Palesano said. He didn’t start until his redshirt sophomore year, guiding his team to a conference championship win in his sophomore and junior years. He was excited for his last season until his social media career took off due to his streetball videos.
“Before NIL became a thing, it was a violation to receive money for merch or winning a tournament. I had to make a decision: use my last year of eligibility to transfer or provide for myself.” Athletes were unable to receive any money from their name, image, or likeness and would receive suspensions if they were caught doing so. Many athletes lost eligibility because of these rules, and as a result, NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) was born and has been pushed heavily because of past injunctions.
After being featured on different basketball highlight platforms and making a name for himself, Palesano eventually signed with AND1 and has been grateful for the opportunity. “It’s been surreal. I still remember when I was watching Hot Sauce, Professor, AO, and other members on ESPN, and to now work with them is crazy.”
Palesano competed in the PlayStation Creators Cup on team Wilder during NBA All-Star weekend. His team made it to the finals before losing to Team Staples.