Chris Palmer followed NYC playground legend Rafer "Skip" Alston through the Bucks-Magic series. Get a feel for life behind the scenes. Here's the fourth installment. Click here to see Part 3, and here for Rafer's stats.

Halfway through the fourth quarter of the Bucks' series-clinching win in Game 4, Rafer Alston has one thing in mind: making it out of there alive. "I could see things brewing in the third quarter and I knew it was going to get ugly."

Not the game, but the crowd at the T-Mac Center. With less then a minute to go a "fan" threw a giveaway ball onto the court. Another idiot tossed his beer onto the floor, a foot away from Ray Allen. "I wrapped two towels over my head, ducked down and got outta there," says Skip. "Coins, batteries, whatever. I wasn't going to risk getting hit."

After the game Skip looks tired. There is a lot on his mind -- this will be a big summer for him. He's a free agent, tired of watching players with less skill get more burn. When it comes to basketball street cred, he's holding a platinum card with no limit. It's time that carried over to the League, he thinks. There are other things this summer too, like going on tour for And 1. But right now he misses home. "Man, I can't wait to get back to New York," he says, thinking of hot summer days and old freinds and, of course, the park. He's also looking forward to taking his kids, four-year-old Brianna and two-year-old Rafer Jr. ("Skip II My Lou") to Disney World.

The Magic are gone and the Hornets are up next. Alston will continue in his role: starting point guard for the dummy squad. He'll still play one-on-one with Michael Redd and Jason Hart after practice. He'll shower, change and be out of the locker room before Ray Allen even takes his uniform off. And unless Sam Cassell gets hurt, he'll settle for the best seat in the house.

That's what The NBA Life is like if you're Skip To My Lou.

Chris Palmer covers The NBA Life for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at christopher.palmer@espnmag.com.